Official says billboard company cut trees

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Nearly two dozen trees near Los Angeles billboards were chopped down, sparking finger pointing by at least one state official.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that the trees were a part of a California Department of Transportation greening project along the 405 and 10 freeways.

A Caltrans official said he suspects the owner of billboards -- World Wide Rush -- had the trees trimmed back to make advertisements more viable along the freeways.

"I can't imagine why anyone else would want to cut down these trees," said Daniel Freeman, the California Department of Transportation's deputy district director for maintenance in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Paul Fisher, a Newport Beach lawyer representing World Wide Rush, acknowledged that the company had put up the ads but said it had nothing to do with the removal of any trees.

Freeman said the trees were cut back in December and January, just before World Wide Rush put up two graphics advertising Tropicana juice.

The newspaper said Caltrans had planted the trees at a cost of between $2,500 and $3,000 to screen off the 405 freeway.

"I am particularly annoyed that these were the ones that got hit," Freeman said, explaining that "these were essentially brand new."