I am not sure that it is unintentional. The observers may just have not asked what was going on. The reason I'm unsure of intent is the height of the stumps. Th

I am not sure that it is unintentional. The observers may just have not asked what was going on. The reason I'm unsure of intent is the height of the stumps. That's rather abnormal as trees are usually cut much closer to the ground. Also, the tree could probably have been saved. It didn't look like a cut that would have destroyed the entire tree. A good arborist could have removed that without overly damaging the rest of the tree. The stumps are all left at unusual angles. Those aren't the result of typical notching and felling techniques. Those were cut intentionally. My guess is they were notched above that and then cut down to that height. It may be intentional coppicing?