This happened to my mother-in-law. She was and remains extremely poor. Her mother died and left her the family home, the most valuable piece of which was a larg

This happened to my mother-in-law. She was and remains extremely poor. Her mother died and left her the family home, the most valuable piece of which was a large black walnut tree. Her brother cut down the tree and sold it without permission or compensation. I've seen this in Maine as well: land under nature conservancy where someone has gone in and clear cut all but a scrim of wood next to the road where the alders and brush grow thicker. This particular wood was later bought out of conservancy and completely cleared to make a mansion surrounded by surveillance cameras, so I guess it wasn't that much of a loss in the end. It had been the only land left on the point, after forest fires and logging, with any trees over a hundred years old.