the town, and upon the tree.' The hearing having been duly held, 

 the tree warden may exercise his discretion in granting or refusing 

 the removal permit. The hearing gives an opportunity for an ex- 

 pression of public sentiment. The warden is not subject to any 

 action taken by citizens at the hearing, but it is presumed that he 

 will pay due regard to the amount of interest shown, the representa- 

 tive character of the attendance, and the weight of testimony as to 

 the benefit of removal or retention. 



The laws expressly prohibit the mutilation, injury or disfigurement 

 of trees, and in the case of public shade trees'^ it is the duty of the 

 tree warden, under his general care of the trees, to see that these 

 provisions are enforced. No one may wilfully and maliciously in- 

 jure, deface or destroy an ornamental or shade tree in a public way 

 or place, or negligently or wilfully suffer an animal driven by him or 

 belonging to him to injure, deface or destroy such tree. No one 

 may affix to a tree in a public way or place a playbill, picture, an- 

 nouncement, notice, advertisement or other thing, or cut, paint or 

 mark such tree, except for the purpose of protecting it and under a 

 written permit from the tree warden, or in a city from the officer 

 having charge of said trees.^ The penalty for violation of this 

 statute is a tine of not less than five, nor more than one hundred 

 dollars, and a vigorous enforcement of its provisions, with the levy- 

 ing of fines in a few cases, will generally result in a very respectful 

 attitude toward its provisions on the part of the public. It will, 

 however, be found in most cases that a courteous warning, with in- 

 formation as to the exact purport of the law, will be sufficient to 

 secure its enforcement. 



The municipality has absolute control of trees within public ways 

 as regards care, trimming, retention and removal, if public necessity 

 requires, but when a tree is cut the wood is the property of the 

 abutting owner. 



The tree warden should at all times see that trees are so trimmed 

 as not to obstruct in any way the proper use of the highway, or en- 

 danger travelers thereon. When locations have been granted to 

 public service companies for wire, poles and equipment necessary to 

 the proper conduct of their business, it becomes the duty of the tree 



■ R, L. ch. 53, s. 13, amended by Acts of i6oS, ch. 296. 



^ R. L. ch. 185, s. 7. and ch. 208, s. 100, loi, 102. 



3 R. L. ch. 208, s. 100, lor, 102, 104 (amended by Acts of 1905), ch. 279, s. 2. 



