In 2022, loggers working for neighbours crossed onto a Mississippi couple’s land and cut 1,299 trees; their handwritten tally helped secure a $41,920 award later upheld on appeal

Representative Image (AI-generated)A logging job that was supposed to take place on neighbouring property ended with 1,299 trees cut from a Mississippi couple’s land, turning a boundary mistake into a legal dispute over more than $40,000. According to the Court of Appeals of Mississippi’s October 7, 2025 decision in Payne Logging LLC v. Gerald Smith and Rhonda Smith, the couple documented the damage with photographs and handwritten notes recording the number and diameter of trees they found cut.