An Alki woman was so distraught over the cutting of a western red cedar in her neighborhood that she called the city arborist, had the cutting stopped, and then climbed up into the tree with food and water for a daylong sit-in protest May 16.

"I've loved this tree since the first time I saw it," said Yvonne Ogden, 69, as she perched herself in the crotch of the butchered tree on a makeshift seat about 8 feet off the ground.

The tree is in the parking strip in front of the house at 3009 61st Ave. S.W. Most of its branches have been cut off but some remain on the western side of the chopped trunk.

Ogden phoned Seattle city arborist Nolan Rundquist when she saw a professional tree-trimming crew paring off the tree's branches and preparing to cut it down. Rundquist confirmed the city had not issued a permit to cut the tree. Ogden handed her cell phone to the foreman of the tree-cutting crew and Rundquist ordered the crew to stop work.

Currently the hacked cedar tree remains standing but most of its branches are gone. Rundquist said the tree is an eyesore and cut beyond redemption, but it presents no safety hazard. Even so, he ordred the tree be taken down. Then two new street trees are to be planted in the parking strip in front of the house.

A tree-removal permit costs $150. Failing to get one costs $300.

John Thompson, owner of the cedar tree, said he and his wife received a letter from the city a year and a half ago warning them someone had been injured in front of their house because roots from the cedar tree caused part of the sidewalk to heave upward. The injured person successfully filed a claim against the Thompson's insurance company.

"Because of liability, we decided to get the tree removed and get the sidewalk repaired," Thompson said.

They hired a prominent tree service, which promised to secure the necessary permits from the city, Thompson said. But no permit was obtained.

Thompson estimated the cedar tree was about the same age as the house, 80 years old. Its top has been cut off many times, he said. The cedar was about 40 feet tall when the most recent chopping was done, he said.

"We hated to see the tree go," Thompson said. It shielded their house from the view of a three-story apartment building across the street.

"It gave us a measure of privacy at night."

The parking strip is the area between the curb and the sidewalk. It's part of the city-owned right of way, which includes not only the street itself but the curb, parking strip, sidewalk and, in some cases, even a strip of property on the house side of the sidewalk, Rundquist said.

People are free to plant trees in the parking strip but they relinquish some ownership of those trees, Rundquist said.

"If you plant out there, it becomes a public asset," he said.

City residents are responsible to keep street trees pruned 8 feet above the sidewalk and 14 feet above the street, Rundquist said. That also goes for trees planted in the front yard whose branches reach into the right of way.

Meanwhile the Seattle Department of Transportation plants and maintains the trees along the city's arterial streets, such as California Avenue and Delridge Way, particularly if they are trees of one variety.

Ogden came down out of the chopped cedar tree later the same day, spurred by the notion that her protest had been successful. She hopes the tree's trunk will be carved into some kind of sculpture right where it stands. That's unlikely however. The city arborist ordered the cedar tree's stump be ground down 18 inches below the soil surface.

Tim St. Clair can be contacted at tstclair@robinsonnews.com or 932-0300.