To feel so upset about this...

[MidnightSun77]

Until this morning there was a beautiful mature cherry tree outside our home, still in full blossom. It screened our balcony from main road. There was a pair of nesting magpies living in it, as well as squirrels, wood-pigeons etc. I loved this tree. The scent of blossom came in all our windows. It made city living feel like being in countryside, we woke to birdsong every day and could hear leaves rustling. I was looking forward to BF on balcony when our baby arrives.
The tree was sturdy and didn't appear diseased in any way. This morning a group of council forestry workers came and hacked it down! Now there's just a stump.

I've been crying over it all day, I feel so sad and angry. Every time I look out window I see the road and cars instead of leafy branches and blossom. Why did they destroy a healthy mature tree?! The magpies now have no nest (which probably had babies in) and are flying around the stump in confusion.
Our balcony feels exposed instead of private and tranquil.

AIBU to feel so upset over this or is it just pregnancy hormones?

I thought you weren't allowed to cut down trees with nesting birds in them. That's what our tree surgeon told us anyway.

I would be really upset and be emailing to find out why.

I'm pretty sure it is illegal to disturb nesting birds (and cutting down their home) would constitute disturbance! I would be complaining to the council in the strongest possible terms.

The council put a tree preservation order on our cherry tree. Unfortunately it blew down in the wind. I'm surprised the council would just chop it down if it was healthy. I'd ring them up and ask why?

That's terrible, I bet they'd say it was something to do with health and safety. So sorry.

I be bloody furious!

We used to live on the third floor of a block of flats surrounded by beautiful mature trees. I loved being up high and level with the branches, being able to see the birds and squirrels and hearing the leaves rustling.

We need trees! They provide clean air and shade and shelter for pedestrians. Can you ring the council and demand an explanation?

We had the same thing happen last year. A beautiful big tree with amazing blossoms each year. Was lovely watching it change over the seasons from my kitchen window. It looked healthy but apparently it was rotten and so had to go :(

Magpies are evil. They eat the baby birds and take the eggs from other birds. That is what they do!

It is sad about the tree though.

We chopped our cherry tree down - it looked perfectly healthy and the stump looked like any other tree stump but it was totally rotten inside and was an accident waiting to happen, could this have been the case with your tree?

Yanbu. We have protected trees between us and the neighbour behind. We own the ones on our own land but they form a lovely screen in the spring and summer.

Without warning my neighbours got some cowboy to strip every branch off the trees on their side. I got home and cried. They looked like totem poles. Council agreed that they'd beolen the protection order but said that "prosecuting or fining them wouldn't bring the trees back".

Unbeknown to them the trees had spawned some saplings in part of our garden so we planted all 7 out on our land so they can't touch them.

It's been about 7 years and their trees survived but now look like toilet brushes with the new growth and our saplings have filled in the gaps beautifully. We no longer speak. Twats.