[pvaldes]

Wood thieves fall in a different category; Those are the worst offenders by number. Companies or local goverments stealing trees from public parks has became a too common activity since the austericide. Very profitable also; most people don't understand that plants have a big economical value just as raw materials. But is not this case; nobody tried to remove the wood.

Revenge is a fact. Some protected very old oaks had been killed in Spain after tourism to see them became too invasive. Probably not the same with the sycamore, but it could be a team of badly advised locals, for sure.

The fact is that there is a global pattern in Europe and USA of manipulating rednecks and gullible people against nature. Social media is doing this all the time resulting in a lot of wildfires in Europe lately. Remote manipulation seems probable here.

[pvaldes]

This may be a plausible case of wood thievery IMAO. It shows a lot of the common "modus-operandi" patterns. 14th century old oak. UK. 2022

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-61977727

To be fair, sometimes is just well-meaning local authorities trying to avoid a perceived danger. Trees sometimes fall over people. Sometimes is a mix of greed and fear. Public trees with useless wood are more often saved or left alone.