3 fraternity pledges cited in theft of rare tree from UW Arboretum in Madison

Police in Madison have cracked the case of the conifer crooks who stole a rare tree from the University of Wisconsin Arboretum in November.

After a tip Monday, investigators zeroed in on three UW-Madison students who ultimately confessed to harvesting the tree while pledging to the Chi Phi fraternity, which has not been recognized by the university since 2015.

According to University of Wisconsin-Madison police, the men admitted to buying a saw, renting a trailer and cutting and removing the tree.

When the vandalism was discovered Nov. 9, investigators also found a 12-foot section had been cut from a nearby Compact White Fir and left behind by the thieves.

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Lovicott said when the students realized after the theft the tree was a rare 25-foot tall Algonquin Pillar Swiss Mountain Pine Tree, planted in 1981, and that university police were investigating the theft, they "destroyed" the tree and got rid of the evidence somewhere about 30 miles from Madison.

Read more: https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/crime/2021/03/26/3-students-cited-cutting-down-rare-pine-uw-madison-arboretum/7012565002/