We are closing on a house on May 8. We went past this weekend and saw that someone had chopped off 8 feet's worth of bottom branches from the white pine out front, all the way around (not just the branches facing the neighbor's yard). This is new from the last time we saw the house, and a neighbor passing by said she just noticed it--so clearly took place between accepted offer and closing.
Nobody lives at the house currently and it is being sold by a trustee who lives out of state. Seller's agent was not aware of any planned tree work, and it doesn't look like an especially professional job.
Do we have a leg to stand on at all if we find out the neighbors did it considering we don’t officially own the house yet? What action could or should we take, if any?
More than anything we are just sad. It is a beautiful tree and was not aggressively encroaching—even if it was, they took the branches off all the way around.