For two seasons in Stafford County, Virginia, a roadside Christmas tree brought smiles to residents who drove by it after a local family lovingly decorated it. But the family and fans of the tree were shocked last weekend when the tree was suddenly chopped down.
Since then, there’s been a tree-cutting confession and a promise to make things right.
Ali Hutchins and her father first decorated the tree in fall 2021 after they spied an opportunity as they drove along Centrepoint Parkway: A lonely evergreen was growing up through a guardrail.
I had no idea it would be this thing people loved so much. People were stopping and taking pictures with it and putting things on it.
Rob Hutchins of Stafford, Virginia
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.
"It just [looked] like a Christmas tree that somebody lost," she said.
Their family got to work, transforming the little tree into what they call “a piece of joy.”
It was "just something that would make people smile. I had no idea it would be this thing people loved so much," Ali's father, Rob Hutchins, said. "People were stopping and taking pictures with it and putting things on it."
A few month ago, the Hutchins family dove into decorating once again, doing a little trimming and frequently changing batteries to keep the glow going. At the end of the season, they put the ornaments back into a box that reads: "the little tree that could."
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia news, events and updates
But last Saturday, some very bad news reached the Hutchins family: "My mom texts me and she was like, 'Somebody killed your tree,' and I was like, 'What do you mean?'" Ali said.
She and her mom hurried to the scene and discovered the tip was true: The tree had been chopped down.
They sent a photo and text to Rob. "My daughter sent me the saddest little picture with the tree laying in a ditch with the caption, 'They killed my tree,'" Rob said.
He texted a reply: "I want to know who did it and why."
The family was wondering whether it was an act of Grinch-like spite. Rob Hutchins took to social media, and other residents also shared their sadness.
A local reporter started making calls, and what happened next both surprised and satisfied the Hutchins family. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) stepped up to admit that its crews had chopped down the tree, explaining that it was compromising the integrity of the guardrail.
But the agency also apologized profusely.
"We understand that this is a very important tree to the people that drive by it, a very pretty tree decorated with ornaments," Kyle Bates of VDOT said. "It is something we should have reached out to the community to give them a heads up on."
On Wednesday, Bates called Rob Hutchins to tell him how VDOT planned to make things right..
"We would be more than happy to purchase a tree, replant the tree," Bates said. "I told him I would come out there myself and help him decorate it."
Rob Hutchins said he was "really happy" with the resolution. "I’m quite looking forward to it and I’m sad it's only January."
