POULSBO — Downtown Poulsbo is slightly more bare these days, and not because fall has taken the leaves off of the trees, rather because someone has taken branches and limbs off of Front Street’s last standing tree.

The action was done to a city-owned tree, without public permission.

“I just can’t believe he did it,” Mayor Becky Erickson said. “You don’t just go and harm a tree that you don’t own.”

“This happened without our knowledge,” she added, “This is not acceptable. It’s defacing a public asset. It is illegal.”

On Dec. 2, Poulsbo residents noticed a private contractor cutting a considerable portion of limbs off of a downtown maple tree along Front Street. The police were called and discovered the limbing was being done to a city-owned tree, but without city permission.

According to the police report on the incident, the contractor said he regularly performs maintenance for a neighboring building. He said he has pruned the tree in the past and that the branches hang over the building’s roof, shading it and causing mold to grow.

Poulsbo police have forwarded the case to the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office. The prosecutor’s office has not decided whether it will pursue charges against the contractor.

“We are taking action on this,” Erickson said, noting that means the city supports the case being prosecuted.

“You just can’t go in and take down public trees without the permission of the City of Poulsbo, or prune them,” she said.

Erickson notes that Poulsbo is considered a “Tree City,” a designation bestowed by the Arbor Day Foundation to cities that adhere to certain standards to maintain their trees.

The case may be charged as a felony and tried in a Kitsap County District Court, or be filed as a misdemeanor which would place it locally in Poulsbo Municipal Court, according to Lael Carlson of the prosecutor’s office.

The tree in question is located at the southern end of Front Street, at the head of a crosswalk.

“This is the only one left on Front Street and we want to keep it,” Erickson said. “It’s part of the ambiance of the street.”

The city is waiting for a report from an arborist who will determine the value of the tree and the value of the damage. That information may be a consideration in charges being filed by the prosecutor.

The tree is still standing, but the police report notes that it was pruned to “such an extent that it may die.” The arborist, however, will make a full diagnosis.

It is the third tree on Poulsbo’s Front Street to be interfered with over the past decade without city permission. It is the first time, however, that the city knows who allegedly did the damage.

According to Poulsbo Parks and Recreation Director Mary McCluskey, one tree was possibly poisoned, causing it to die and ultimately be removed. A second tree was cut down and disappeared overnight. That tree was located next to another crosswalk on Front Street. It is unknown who poisoned or removed the trees.