kid chopping down live trees?

Little late and slightly off topic. After wintering in Florida we returned home to find 25 trees on our property that had been vandalized by neighborhood kids. Our property is completely natural with no grass whatsoever. After much investigation and anguish (every sapling is near and dear to us) we finally found the darling angels responsible for the damage. Incredulously the parents of course thought it was no big deal even after they realized how upset we were. Long story short even though it would not bring our trees back (can't uncut a tree) we demanded restitution. In the end we accepted partial restitution due to the sensitive nature of the circumstances involving neighbors and under age kids. Even partial restitution was like pulling hens teeth and required threats from ourselves and the sheriffs dept. Guess who is now the A$$ of the neighborhood. Folks i hate to say it but we are at a place in history that reeks of rude inconsiderate people. Off soapbox.