‘Petty revenge’: Pics expose Aussie problem

Australian councils are waging an ongoing war against tree poisoning — and now their “petty revenge” against malicious vandals, often wealthy residents in leafy suburbs seeking to boost their property values by improving their view, has been hailed online.

A series of images going viral on Reddit show how councils often respond by erecting signs where the trees once stood to block the view and shame the culprits.

“Tree vandalism has occurred in this area,” read one such sign erected by the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.

“Trees shouldn’t die for a view,” said another large banner erected by North Sydney Council. “This area of community land is a tree vandalism site.”

The solution was hailed as “brilliant”.

“Avoids the whole ‘fines are the price to do things’ attitude of the ultra rich,” one user wrote.

“These are all in rich areas with coastal views, so you can imagine the rich ***** having a tantrum when the peasants from the local council f**k them over,” another said.

One wrote, “I love how petty this is. I am absolutely here for it.”

Another agreed, “Love how this approach turns the tables. Instead of just fining the wealthy for cutting down trees, the government blocks their view to remind them they can’t just shape their surroundings to fit their whims. It’s a clever way to enforce environmental respect.”

One Aussie shared, “Someone did this near Port Stephens. The local council said they would rehabilitate the damaged/destroyed trees … and it was going to take years, and they didn’t want to keep moving their equipment in and out of the area, so it was easier if they just put some shipping containers there to store their equipment safely. Someone f**ked around. And then they found out.”

Sydney councils have reported a sharp increase in “tree vandalism” in recent years, with a spate of brutal mass clearings hitting headlines.

Local governments received more than 1000 reports of trees being damaged or killed last year, according to an analysis by The Sydney Morning Herald in December.

Councils including Sutherland Shire, Ku-ring-gai and Liverpool saw some of the sharpest increases compared with prior years.

Most shocking were two mass killing incidents in 2023 — more than 260 trees were hacked and poisoned in Castle Cove, an idyllic reserve on Sydney’s North Shore, and up to 300 trees and plants were cut down in Longueville in Lane Cove.

Councils can issue fines for tree vandalism of up to $3000 for individuals and $6000 for companies, with those penalties potentially rising to $1 million and $5 million if taken to court.

But cash-strapped councils have warned they don’t have the resources to carry out proper investigations, and have lobbied the state government for increased support.

“The issue for us is that unless you get an admission of guilt by someone, or you’ve got very strong evidence of who actually did the act of killing the tree, the burden of proof is just too high [to prosecute],” said Hills Shire Council general manager Michael Edgar told the newspaper.

Over the past five years, only 90 cases of unlawful clearing have been prosecuted in the NSW Land and Environment Court.

The biggest penalty in that period was $348,000 for a farmer who cut down five square kilometres of vegetation, according to the BBC.

“People are paying between $3 million and $8 million for some of these houses — maybe more,” one local near the site of the Castle Cove mass clearing told the broadcaster.

“Paying some turkey $10,000 to cut down a few trees is nothing, and paying the council a fine is probably nothing as well.”