Woman claims neighbor illegally cut down her trees

A Mentor woman is accused of illegally having several trees cut down on another city resident’s property without the property owner’s approval.

Paulette D. Ackley, trustee of the Paulette D. Ackley Living Trust, filed a lawsuit Aug. 23 in Lake County Common Pleas Court against Sweet Hollow Drive resident Mary Mathews.

Willoughby Hills-based Express Tree Service, LLC is also named in the suit.

According to the suit filed by attorneys Erik L. Walter and

Joshua Strickland:

Ackley discovered on Aug. 18, 2016, that Express Tree employees removed three trees on her King Memorial Road property without her consent or knowledge.

“Upon further inquiry, it was revealed that Defendant Mathews had hired Defendant Express to remove trees from Plaintiff’s property — property she did not own and could not claim to own due to the fence on the property line between her property and that of plaintiff,” Walter stated in the suit. “Defendant Mathews had absolutely no authority to direct Defendant Express to enter onto the Plaintiff’s property without consent/permission/ authorization/approval of the Plaintiff. In addition, Defendant Mathews did not notify the Plaintiff in any way to seek consent/permission/authorization/approval of/ from Plaintiff or communicate with Plaintiff that she had hired Defendant Express with the sole intention of removing trees from Plaintiff’s property.”

The Plaintiff claims the tree removal and destruction of underbrush and saplings was done intentionally and maliciously.

She is seeking to be paid back for the trees’ value, plus all costs associated with the unauthorized tree removal.

The Plaintiff claims she has suffered more than $25,000 in damages, including having to hire professionals to repair the area, plant new trees and do stump grinding and grading.

The tree removal site was “left a complete mess by defendants,” according to the suit.

She is also seeking attorney fees.

Mary Mathews has an unlisted phone number and was not immediately available for comment. Several attempts were made to leave a message for Express Tree officials, but the company’s voice mailbox was full.