America's Nicest Criminal

Here's a criminal who believes that it is far better to give than to receive.

The Channel 7 News Team, ABC's affiliate in Denver, recently caught up with a man who goes only by the name "Tree Fairy." Rather than stealing goods like many criminals, the Tree Fairy engages in another kind of criminal activity: Planting trees on homeowners' lawns in the middle of the night.

The Tree Fairy, who only spoke to the Denver news station under the condition of anonymity, says he started the plantings about two years ago after he bought a lot of trees on sale. Rather than keeping them all for himself, he decided to share the wealth.

The Tree Fairy ventures out under cover of darkness when most folks are sleeping to dole out his trees. It takes him about 30 minutes to dig a hole, plant the tree, fill the hole back up and water the newly planted present. The Tree Fairy then leaves a note explaining how the tree got there and asks homeowners to care for it.

So far, the Tree Fairy has planted about 41 trees, but only 28 remain (apparently not everyone was so keen on their spruced-up lawns). And even though planting trees without permission is technically considered "destroying property," the local police say they haven't received any complaints about the anonymous tree giver.

To learn more about the mysterious Tree Fairy (and to convince him to pay a visit to your lawn), check out his Twitter page here.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.