Comment by pvaldes

It depends on the location, solid high probability for some areas, specially in the years of the big scam.

I remember three perfectly healthy old lebanon cedars, maybe four, and one... not two, ancient beech vanishing like a poof at night from public parks just in my city in the last years. Trees with soft wood or palms (easy to transplant, not valuable wood) are always respected for some reason. Hard wood ancient trees or old conifers were systematically chopped down in other cities also. Is a pattern easy to follow. Always the same pool of species.

And is not just in the public spaces. I remember also an old Mimosa tree, a cherry tree that I planted and was chopped in the weekend last month, and a lot of trees removed in the river bank in the last ten years under several excuses.

Stealing wood or firewood is serious money and a low risk crime. Most people don't understand how expensive are those things. Or don't bother to say anything when one rare hardwood tree 100 Yo is replaced at night by two tiny 2 Yo, fast growing and cheap as a rat species. For most people all trees are the same green thing. The statistics say that the number of trees in the city increased by 2 and everybody is satisfied.