VALENCIA : 2 Men Held Over Felling of Oak Tree
A 25-year-old oak tree in Valencia worth an estimated $9,000 fell victim Thursday to tree cutters who use oak leaves to make jewelry, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
Alejo Flores, 31, and Antonio Rivas, 20, both of Bell Gardens, were held on suspicion of grand theft after allegedly using machetes to chop down a large oak near the campus of the College of the Canyons on Rockwell Canyon Road, Deputy Robert Norlemann said. Flores and Rivas had the oak loaded into a pickup truck about 3 p.m. when they were taken into custody by deputies, he said. Nursery operators estimated the tree’s value at about $9,000, he said.
The men told deputies that they sell oak leaves for a penny apiece to make jewelry, Norlemann said. The men were held on $5,000 bail each.
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