Gale Botwick's

holiday spirit has diminished somewhat after a thief cut down a tree from

her Peachtree City back yard this weekend.

The nine-foot

leyland cypress was one of 33 she had planted to buffer her home from

the newly-paved Sumner Road after she was unhappy with the city's efforts

to landscape the area with smaller trees. In all she spent $6,500 to have

the area relandscaped so she could have the peace and quiet she was accustomed

to.

But now there's

a gap in that wall of trees, where the tree stump was left sticking out

of the ground.

"This

was a deliberate act," Botwick said, adding that she's not upset

about the money involved, but the principle of the situation. She would

rather have given the person $50 to buy a Christmas tree the old-fashioned

way.

"You have

all these positive feelings about people and then this kind of thing happens,"

Botwick said.

A police report

was filed on the incident; Botwick believes it happened late Saturday

night since a neighbor reported seeing a light in the area at the time.

Botwick doesn't

think the crime was committed by anyone in Peachtree City, however.

"I figure

it was someone who came by and was scouting," for a Christmas tree,

Botwick said.

Whomever took

her tree, "I hope they have a nice Christmas," Botwick said

with a wry chuckle of sarcasm. "I hope they enjoy the tree. I certainly

enjoyed it."

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