Man Gets Revenge In Pettiest Way After City Makes Him Cut Down His Beloved Tree

A Reddit user by the name of GoblinsStoleMyHouse claims to have planted the ultimate seeds of revenge after the city council of Redondo Beach, California, reportedly ordered him to cut down his 30-year-old pepper tree and made him pay for it. 

The Reddit user explained in a post...

"Hi, I’m an arborist. This means I am a professional in the cultivation, management, and study of trees. I love trees. I think they’re some of the most beautiful, majestic, ancient living beings on our planet." 

"Today I am here to tell you a story of death, new life, and revenge. Three years ago today, the city council of Redondo Beach California ordered the death of my 30 year old pepper tree. It’s roots had begun to penetrate the pavement in front of my house. The city noticed and issued the death warrant of my tree. They furthermore made me pay for the damages to the sidewalk and for the tree removal." 

"I loved Clyde. I’m beginning to get older, and planting something that I knew would live well beyond my lifetime was something very special. I took very good care of him. I drained his soil, I gave him a crutch to lean on when he was a young lad, and I watched him grow. Just as Clyde was becoming a strong healthy individual, expanding his root system, developing a canopy, and making his own way in life, the mayor took it upon himself to uproot my beautiful child." 

But Clyde will be avenged...

"Mayor Steve Aspel. You killed my child."

"For this, you will pay. Two years and seven months ago, I secretly planted 45 California Redwoods and 82 Giant Sequoias in various parks, yards, and state properties around your city." 

"Today, each of their root systems will be at least 30 feet in diameter, and deeply embedded in the soil. You may have noticed the trees growing in front of city council, or that new one that sprouted up in your backyard. That’s a Giant Sequoia, and its growth will begin accelerating rapidly in the coming months."

"You killed Clyde, but I have replaced him with over 100 living giants. And giant they will become. In a few years, they’ll begin breaking heights of 100-300 feet and live well beyond 2,500 years. That’s way longer ago than Jesus was born. To remove even one of them at this point will cost well over $1500… And I’m stiffing you with the bill, just like you did to me 3 years ago today."

"Good day to you, sir. May your city be overrun by trees. And may Clyde rest in peace." 

If you've never seen a giant sequoias, here's why they have their name. 

The problem? According to Snopes, this story is most likely a lie. While the Reddit user described himself as an ageing homeowner, he described himself as living in a dormitory room “on a college campus” in another post only a few months ago.

While Mike Garcia, a state licensed tree services and landscaping contractor, told Snopes that the revenge plan would never work. 

“Southern California is pretty much a desert,” Garcia said. “Where are all the sequoias located? North, in San Francisco where we get a lot of rain."

"You could actually plant a sequoia and you could water them a lot, but I think at last count there’s over 100 million trees in Southern California that have died from drought-related causes."

"The only time that those [deep] roots get watered at a really deep level is when it rains because rain pushes water down for hours or days, so we are getting 5 or 6 feet deep. And that’s what they need. so in L.A., you can grow a baby sequoia for a while, a few years, but it won’t get water at the deepest roots." 

The city of Redondo Beach also claimed that the story was false, adding:

"If somebody had planted 127 trees without our knowledge, we would have picked up some of them — there aren’t 127 trees that were mysteriously planted on city property."

It was hilarious while it lasted.