Actor William H. Macy being sued for $600K after neighbor accuses him of chopping down his trees

HOLLYWOOD HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Actor William H. Macy is being sued for $600,000 and is being accused of trespassing on his neighbor's property to kill several healthy trees.

According to new legal documents, the neighbor, Pierce Brown, claims Macy's workers took down trees that were not on his property.

Brown believes it was on purpose despite the "Shameless" actor describing it as an honest accident.

"The law is pretty clear, if you step on someone else's property and cut down their trees, there's going to be liability," explained Zachary Schorr, a Los Angeles-based real estate attorney who regularly deals with neighbor disputes.

According to the lawsuit, Macy sent workers onto the neighbor's property in December 2021 when the owner was out of town. That's when they allegedly removed several, healthy pine trees.

Schorr told Eyewitness News the state of California has strict civil codes protecting trees and the price tag in this case could easily skyrocket.

"You're supposed to award double the value of the damage to the trees and then there's another code section and that allows for three times the value," said Schorr.

The neighbor also claims Macy's workers damaged the gate that connected the two properties.

Macy's wife, actress Felicity Huffman, served time in jail in 2019 after pleading guilty in the USC admissions scandal.

Macy's representatives did not respond to ABC7's request for comment and a person at the home that filed the lawsuit declined to speak.