To my Fauntleroy neighbor:
You’ve attempted to kill my overlarge planting-strip plum tree by cutting the bark around half the trunk. (Apparently you’re too chicken to work on the street side where you might be seen.)
If you’d had the nerve to speak to me about it, you’d have learned that the tree was scheduled to be removed soon and replaced by something smaller. I was waiting for the nesting birds to be finished for the season.
Now, however, I’ll consider it an interesting “experiment” to watch it suffer and die slowly, becoming a massive, ugly blight in your view. I can always wait till next fall to plant something more appropriate.