That misses the point that the tree being destroyed is not a commentary on the tree, but on humanity. It would not be terribly sad if the tree just ran out of

That misses the point that the tree being destroyed is not a commentary on the tree, but on humanity. It would not be terribly sad if the tree just ran out of water and died. What is sad is that a human destroyed something unique and special in the natural world for presumably drunken amusement. The value lost is in the cheapening of our humanity, not the death of a single plant.