Over the course of the past month, almost 60 trees have been felled by a rogue lumberjack going wild in Surrey. On the 23rd of April they finally arrested a 24 year old man on suspicion of the crime. 

Bafflingly, the culprit avoided the wooded areas of Surrey, instead going for the scarce, but mature trees by the edge of the river. (Some roughly 6 meters high.)

Police took action, reviewing CCTV footage and upping the number of night time patrols but it wasn’t until 33 days after the first crime that they finally arrested the man with chainsaws in the back of his van. 

The true confusion about this story is the man’s motives. Why would he go around cutting down trees? Was it for attention? Was he on drugs? Tiktok user @philc84 joked that the vandal could be a resident of Kent attacking Surrey, the man further jested that the border between Surrey and Kent should be shut down.

Whilst the story seems lighthearted and intriguing, there are darker aspects to the crime. Several of the trees cut down were home to bird nests which sadly have been destroyed and the culprit even destroyed memorial trees bringing further upset to grieving families and the lumber left lying on the ground presented a safety hazard, especially to children and disabled people such as those who are legally blind. The damage has also cost the council over £5000 to transport the felled branches, costing money which could have been spent on the community.