By measuring the diameter of the trees, it was determined that the three French plane trees that had been cut down were all over 20 years old. Currently, the places where the trees were cut down have been filled with cement.
On January 19th (reported by Wu Shan from the Xiangtan Evening News and correspondent Chen Wenwu): "As the person in charge of the hotel, I apologize to the entire city's population and guarantee that henceforth I will no longer engage in any acts that damage or destroy greenery." On the afternoon of January 18th, Li Zehua, the person in charge of a hotel in Yuetang District, apologized to the entire city for privately cutting down roadside trees due to construction work at the Yuetang Public Security Bureau. Guo Jiajie, who carried out the tree-cutting, faced a penalty of three days of administrative detention.
**Cutting Trees for Air Conditioner Installation**
In order to open for business on Christmas Day 2011, the Siv Coffee and Longrunhongdu Hotel located on Yuetang Road in Yuetang District worked day and night to complete renovations. On November 2nd, Li Zehua, the owner of these two establishments, called central air conditioning installation worker Guo Jiajie and asked him to quickly finish installing the air conditioner. During the construction process, Guo Jiajie's team discovered that the three French plane trees in front of the hotel were blocking the location intended for the air conditioning unit due to their lush branches and leaves. Additionally, several high-voltage lines passed through the tree branches, raising safety concerns during construction.
At around midnight on November 3rd, Guo Jiajie made a private decision: he hired a group of workers to cut down the three French plane trees in front of the hotel at the root and then installed the air conditioning unit. "In our village, if there are trees blocking the way, we just cut them down. I truly didn't know that cutting down roadside trees is illegal," said Guo Jiajie.
**The Destruction of Greenery Shocks City Leaders**
At about 8:00 AM on November 3rd, patrol personnel from the Municipal Gardening Bureau discovered that three roadside trees had been cut down and immediately reported the case to the Yuetang Road Police Station of the Yuetang Public Security Bureau. This case attracted significant attention from city leaders Yang Qinpeng and Liu Jiankuan, who instructed that "the case must be solved and severely punished." Officers from the Yuetang Road Police Station promptly investigated and gathered evidence, eventually locking onto suspect Guo Jiajie.
"During the days after the trees were cut down, staff members from the Municipal Urban Management and Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau, the Gardening Bureau, and police station officers came to investigate me. I admitted that the reason for cutting down the trees was due to hotel renovations. Although I wasn't present when the trees were cut down, as the person in charge of the hotel, I will bear all compensation and penalties," said Li Zehua. To cooperate with the investigation, his hotel ultimately failed to open for business on Christmas Day 2011. The act of privately destroying greenery gave him a painful lesson.
**Detention, Compensation, Fines – Nothing Less**
On January 18th, 2012, the Yuetang Public Security Bureau decided to administratively detain Guo Jiajie for three days for cutting down roadside trees. The Municipal Urban Management and Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau and the Gardening Bureau decided to require Siv Coffee and Longrunhongdu Hotel to pay 30,000 yuan in compensation and a fine of 5,000 yuan.
That afternoon, Li Zehua, the owner of the two stores, accepted the punishment, and Guo Jiajie was sent to the detention center. Guo Jiajie regretfully said: "It was all because of my lack of legal awareness that I acted foolishly. I hope everyone takes this as a warning."
Xiong Zhicheng, Director of the Scenic and Garden Department of the Municipal Urban Management and Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau, introduced that the French plane trees cut down in front of the Longrunhongdu Hotel were all over 20 years old, which was very regrettable. Recently, several incidents of damaging or destroying greenery due to store renovations have occurred in our city.
Some store owners have privately cut down or damaged roadside trees because the trees blocked parking spaces, obscured shop signs, or followed feng shui beliefs.
"Every citizen has the duty to plant and protect greenery but does not have the right to damage or destroy it. Once similar illegal acts are discovered, they will certainly be severely punished," emphasized Director Xiong Zhicheng.