Living in a neighborhood governed by a homeowner's association (HOA) can be great—but also pretty frustrating when they overstep their boundaries. Reddit user u/Educational_Dust_932 experienced exactly how intrusive an HOA could be after someone from the association decided to secretly trim a branch from their beloved mulberry tree.
The homeowner explained their unique situation in a Reddit post: "My house is the first house in the neighborhood behind mine. I am on the corner. The street on the side of my home is the HOA neighborhood, but my front yard is on a different street that isn't part of the HOA. When I moved, I asked them if I could pay their HOA fees to let my kids use the pool and playground directly across the street," the homeowner wrote, noting their request was denied outright.
Deciding to beautify their corner property, the homeowner planted a mulberry tree, which eventually became a sore point for the HOA. Members complained that the tree's branches were hanging too low and allegedly violated their rules—even though the homeowner’s property was clearly outside HOA jurisdiction.
Things escalated quickly. "Then, one day, I came home, and someone had lopped off a big branch from the tree, one that went out to the street. I tried to find out who did it, but they kept mum about it, and there wasn't anyone I could go after," the frustrated homeowner shared.
But rather than letting the HOA get away with their tree vandalism, this homeowner concocted a brilliant—and delightfully petty—revenge. "So, I rebuilt the branch using PVC and wrapped it in bright Christmas lights in May and then wrapped the rest of the tree for good measure," they wrote.
Mulberry Tree in Christmas lightsRepresentative photo by Canva
As a final act of defiance, the homeowner left these festive, glaringly bright lights on display from May right up until just before Christmas. Ignoring numerous letters from the HOA, they proudly stood their ground. "The HOA members who came to my house to ask me to bring them down since it was the gateway to their neighborhood and that I was 'probably' affecting property values were brushed away. They never did mess with the lights, though. I guess they were worried about what I would pull next. I went and looked at my Facebook and found a picture I took. It doesn't have all the lights, but it shows most of the awful glory. You can see the wound on the tree about a foot above the fake branch," the homeowner concluded gleefully.
Reddit users celebrated this homeowner’s creativity. User u/GoingSouthGarage chimed in with a similar anecdote: "I know of someone in a similar situation, house on the corner, not part of HOA. The first time they tried to mess with him, he placed an old white toilet at the edge of his property and planted a fake flower in it."
Image Source: Reddit | u/Necessary_Baker_7458
Meanwhile, user u/TLost17 expressed outrage at the HOA’s audacity: "I saw red just reading this. How dare they chop off a branch? Also, I love how they denied your family membership in the first place. Like, why couldn't your kids play in the park and pool across the street? Not like you wanted to do it for free."
And finally, another user suggested going even further: "You should plant more. Like lining your property. Make sure to decorate them with lots of lights and tacky yard ornaments. I'm talking camo pink flamingos, zombie gnomes, the mooning grandma standup, and the works. But only facing the entrance to the HOA," proposed u/LokiKamiSama.
It seems like this HOA learned a valuable lesson about messing with someone else’s mulberry tree.
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It shouldn't have needed saying, but just cause it's candy colored doesn't mean it's edible. 
Representative Image: The tip doesn't need to be big to make a difference.