You failed to understand what I wrote. The claim must include the
value of the tree BEFORE the accident. That is exactly how a claim
in an automobile collision would be settled if the victim's vehicle
were totalled; he would get what the car was worth before the
accident, not what a new car would cost.

I've always seen them handled as the cost of a replacement. That may (or
may not) be the value of the car before the accident.

steve