‘Poon Caught Whacking Wood

If the Lampoon were a political party, its platform would be “cut and run.”

Police arrested a fleeing Lampoon editor on Sunday morning after he allegedly attempted to cut down newly planted trees on the Mt. Auburn Street island outside the Lampoon Castle.

A Harvard University police officer saw James A. Powers Jr. ’08—an editor of the Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine—in the process of cutting down trees at about 4:45 a.m., said Cambridge Police spokesman Frank T. Pasquarello.

Powers ran from the scene holding a handsaw, having slashed partway through the bases of three trees. He was chased by the officer and held until Cambridge police arrived, according to Harvard and Cambridge police logs.

“It doesn’t make a difference if you’re a Harvard student,” Pasquarello said. “People do foolish things, and then they get arrested.”

Powers was arraigned Monday on charges of vandalizing property and released on personal recognizance by the judge, according to the Cambridge Chronicle.

Battles between the Lampoon and trees are nothing new. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were several failed attempts to destroy a tree outside the building. The tree finally died in 1991.

“In college, everyone is just grouchy about stupid stuff,” said Alison G. Umminger ’92, the president of the Lampoon at the time. “Everybody wanted that tree to go.”

The tree had been a favorite of Alfred E. Vellucci, a former Cambridge mayor who had suggested turning Harvard Yard into a parking lot and putting a public bathroom in the Lampoon building, according to a 1991 New York Times article.

Powers said he and other members of the Lampoon were told by their lawyer not to comment. The Lampoon’s lawyer could not be reached for comment.