Illegal tree cutting in Vancouver nothing new

Vancouver police and park board are investigating after 17 maple trees were chopped down along Cambie St.and West 29 Ave. earlier this month.

And it's not the first time trees have been mysteriously damaged or removed in the city.

When several large trees were cut down on a Point Grey lot in May 2014, neighbours lamented that local eagles had now lost their place to roost.

A year earlier, in May 2013, a trio of men were accused of chopping down nearly three dozen trees in an effort to improve the view from a North Vancouver home.

And technology caused problems for three people in Jan. 2010, when they appeared to becaught in the act byGoogleand one of its Street View cameras.

The former owner of the property, her daughter and a tree cutter allegedly removed 23 trees after they were issued a city permit in May 2009 to cut down just two.

The cedar, cypress and evergreen trees were cut down on the same day that a car equipped with acamerarecording images for Google's Street View was in the neighbourhood around Southwest Marine Drive and Musqueam Park.

There was outrage in 2006 when a well-known interior designer who wanted an unobstructed view from her English Bay condo, opted to poisontrees instead of cutting them down.

June Matheson, 73, admitted she bought herbicide in the United States in the spring of 2004, drilled holes and put poison in them to kill the Beach Avenue trees.

Matheson, who counted pop stars Sarah McLachlan and Bif Naked in her client list, walked free from court, but sent cheques totalling $50,000 to the Vancouver Park Board to buy new trees.