Imagine inheriting hundreds of acres of land which also includes a house. If you discovered that a neighbor built a treehouse for his kids on the land, would you accuse him of trespassing, or would you let his kids play in the treehouse?

In this story, one woman is in this exact situation, and she does not want to chance kids getting hurt on her land.

Keep reading to see how the story plays out.

AITA for having a treehouse removed from my property?

My grandparents died recently, and I inherited their farm.

I was really excited about this (getting the farm not their deaths; i was actually really close with them) because my husband and I (27M and 24F) have been looking for a house near my new school (It’s my first year as a middle school teacher), and this house holds sentimental value (grandfather built it for grandmother as wedding present) and it’s a huge property (literally hundreds of acres).

A few subdivisions have been built nearby, including one directly adjacent to the farm.

They went exploring.

My husband and I were exploring our new property, which has quite a bit of wooded area, and we found a huge Live Oak tree with a treehouse in it. This was obviously done by an adult, not children because the lumber was new, and it was really well built (even had an AC window unit and glass windows).

My husband and I waited around to see if anyone showed up, and sure enough a guy (mid to late thirties maybe?) and a few kids show up.

The guy immediately has an attitude and asks why we’re on his property.

My husband tells him that it’s actually ours and that we have the papers to prove it.

The guy is really upset.

The guy tells the kids to go play and he starts freaking out because he thought that no one owned this property (So he doesn’t understand how land works, he’s trespassing, and he has an attitude).

We tell him that he needs to leave because this is private property and we don’t want to be held liable for any of his kids getting hurt on our property.

He leaves (he was MAD), and we immediately call the sheriff’s office to report the trespassing issue, and we call a contractor to have the treehouse removed. (Like I said I’m a teacher; I can’t afford a liability lawsuit).

The police get involved.

A few days passed (the tree house was removed and the lumber was donated) and the guy shows up on our doorstep, accusing us of “stealing his Christmas gift to his son”.

I explained to him that, because the treehouse was built on our property (without our consent), that legally, it was ours.

He threatens to call the police, and I tell him to go for it because, legally, we’re in the right.

The police show up, and the guy ends up being really embarrassed because he was proven wrong and fined.

She feels conflicted about what she did.

I feel fine having the treehouse removed but a few people from the subdivision have called our house phone, calling us “kid haters” and “selfish monsters” (couldn’t be farther from the truth; I’m a school teacher; I love kids).

Legally, I’m in the right, but morally, idk.

So, AITA?

The guy was stupid to assume nobody owned the land. Either it’s private property or it’s public property like a park. Either way, you can’t build your kid a treehouse on it.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

She could’ve handled it a little bit differently.

The dad really should’ve known better.

Here’s a story from someone who lives on almost 100 acres.

Here’s a suggestion of what to say to any neighbors that complain.

All property is owned by someone.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.