So the mentioning of cutting Christmas trees brings to mind a little story.

Several years back some friends of ours whose family owns a tree farm near Waupaca Wi. had a perfectly shaped tree on the edge of the plantation near the road die.  Of course it retained the needles yet and still had the perfect shape but it was very brown. One morning they drove in to open up and noticed someone had come along during the night and cut down the perfectly shaped brown tree. I suppose even by flashlght the tree still looked right.  Wouldn't you have loved to see the look on the thieves face when they brought the tree into the lighted room. Even funnier would have been all the needles actually falling off in transit. 

Ha! Great story.

reminds of a story  my wife's uncle, who lived in downtown Missoula, had a spruce tree growing in his yard (like many other folks); he came home from work to find it had been cut down  

 

obviously very angry, but as luck would have it there was snow on the ground and he simply followed the "drag trail" around the block to another residence, when he peered in there was his spruce all decorated and setup in the guys living room

 

as much as he wanted to handle it himself, he knew he would get into more trouble than the tree thief, so he called the police department and was eventually rewarded with another same size spruce planted in the same location

Dumb criminal stories are great.  Hey, mtwarden, I probably run past your uncle's house at least once a week.  Now I'm going to think of this story every time I pass a spruce tree!

My Universities Arboretum began spreading the rumor that all the spruces and firs on campus were dosed with a touch of skunk scent that dispersed in the open air but if brought inside would be quite apparent.  Apparently they are not alone

(12/06/2005) —A stinky surprise awaits thieves who snatch pine trees from the University of Minnesota and try to use them as Christmas trees. Instead of smelling a freshly-cut pine scent, they will get a whiff of roadkill skunk.
University facilities management workers are spraying balsam fir, Scotch pine and any tree that looks like a holiday tree with skunk scent purchased from a West Virginia trapping store.
This is the third year the university has used the spray, and so far the efforts have skunked thieves, said Les Potts, grounds superintendent.
“Prior to 2003, university trees were prime targets of poachers who had been sawing down the trees at Christmas time,” Potts said. “Since we started using the spray, we have seen a noticeable change in the number of trees tapped by thieves.”
The spray, which is administered on still, rainless days, will cover the tops of 400 to 500 trees. Cold weather masks the skunky smell. But warm, indoor air releases it.

If you are interested in doing it, here is a link to the Extension bulletin.