I knew when I first saw the root crown.
I just took two big red jap maples down in the name of progress, its sad.
I used to work at a company that did a lot of work for a builder who was always knocking down these multi-million dollar homes to build another one. Seemed to be good money in it, seems there are a couple of companies that specialize in just that. We hacked down quite a few priceless trees.
They always tried to get us to drop them on the houses but we never did. If I ever get the chance again. I will Sometime we would have to run over and there would be a dozer stuck under a tree they had tried to knock over or a massive tree they built on and was now 4 years later, stone dead.