Iowa Teen Brothers Face Felony Charges For Pulling Bark Off A Tree

9/4/2014

Talk about punishment not fitting the crime.

A pair of Iowa step-brothers, aged 13 and 14, are facing felony charges of criminal mischief for having pulled pieces of bark off of a tree at a Mason City, Iowa elementary school.

Mason City police estimate that the boys caused over $1,000 in damages; stemming from their belief that the tree will die as a result of the missing bark.

No word yet on whether or not Mason City police will be filing charges against area beavers, black bears, squirrels, deer, or field mice for causing similar damage to trees.

Naturally the boys mother is livid.

WQAD has more:

The boys, ages 13 and 14, were charged with felony second-degree criminal mischief in connection with removing bark from four to five feet of the trunk of a mature tree, on the grounds of an elementary school, August 5, 2014.

The mother of one of the boys said her son pulled a piece of bark that was falling off the tree, and that other boys did the same thing. A neighbor, who saw what the boys were doing, then reportedly called police according to the Globe Gazette.

Two other kids reportedly carved their initials into the tree. They were not charged.

The charges filed against the stepbrothers were based on an estimate for $1,166 to remove and replace the tree, since it will likely die, according to police.

The mother was frustrated that additional estimates weren’t sought, and that other possible solutions – such as community service or paying to replace the tree – weren’t proposed.

“I guess as a parent, I should be at fault for not teaching him that pulling bark off a tree will kill it,” she said. “I made sure to cover sex, drugs, drinking, responsibility, honesty and God, but trees, that one slipped my mind,” the mother said.

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