Crooks Caught on Camera Chopping Down NYC Tree to Steal a Bike

This is pretty pitiful. A security camera yesterday caught a group of crooks chopping down a NYC tree in order to steal a bike that was chained to it. It's what one blog is calling "arborcide."

Gothamist explains:

The poster notes the bike isn't his, because he keeps his "strictly indoors"—he says it is "one of those mass produced "dual-suspension mountain bikes" you see so often. Probably a hapless neighbor who didn't know any better. This is Kensington area in Brooklyn, but I can see this happening anywhere here, really." However, the tree was planted by his father, which is what makes the incident really hurt: "My dad co-paid with the landlord for the foresters to plan[t] this specific tree. I don't know if it's actually his legally, but it's definitely his in spirit...my dad really wanted that type of tree as allegedly it's very long lived. A legacy if you will. I'll pass your knowledge on."

Some Reddit users posit that maybe the whole point was only to chop down the tree—maybe they never really wanted the bike. But as the original poster says, the bike was eventually grabbed: "It was taken 30 minutes later by one of the dudes, I don't remember which."

This is a picture supposedly showing the aftermath:

I'm not opposed to forestry or chopping down a tree on your own property. But axing a community tree so you can take a dinky bike on a joyride? Really?