At the intersection of Magnolia and College streets in Auburn lies Toomer’s Corner, home to the tradition of rolling its trees after Auburn University’s football victories.

These oak trees are estimated to be over 130 years old and have been a landmark in the town for decades. Unfortunately these trees are probably about to die. A caller Jan. 27 to Paul Finebaum’s radio show, who identified himself as “Al from Dadeville” said that he had poisoned the oak trees.

“The weekend after the Iron Bowl, I went to Auburn, Ala., because I live 30 miles away, and I poisoned the Toomer’s trees,” the caller said on Finebaum’s show.

The caller said that he used Spike 80DF (also called tebuthiuron), an herbicide used to kill trees, to poison the oaks. Police later arrested Harvey Almorn Updike, 62, on a single charge of criminal mischief. This is a Class C Felony and if convicted Updike could receive 1-10 years in prison.

Soil samples taken from Toomer’s Corner the day after the call turned up positive for the poison. Updike apparently wanted to make sure that he killed the trees as he used 65 times the lethal dose of the Spike 80DF on the oaks. “Al” said during the call that “they’re not dead yet, but they definitely will die.” He ended his call by saying, “Roll D*mn Tide.”

“We are assessing the extent of the damage and proceeding as if we have a chance to save the trees,” said Gary Keever, an Auburn University professor of horticulture, in an interview with The Birmingham News.

“We are also focused on protecting the other trees and shrubs in Samford Park. At this level the impact could be much greater than just the oaks on the corner, as Spike moves through the soil to a wide area.”

Keever also said that the poison would likely be in the soil for 3-5 years.

Updike said that he poisoned the trees in response to two events: a story he heard about Auburn fans rolling Toomer’s Corner in 1983 after Paul “Bear” Bryant’s death and after the incident where someone “vandalized” the Bryant statue at the University of Alabama Walk of Champions by taping a “Cam Newton #2” T-shirt to the front before the 2010 Iron Bowl.

Auburn and Alabama have a rivalry that goes back long before my time, but the two universities seem to be getting nothing but bad publicity in the national media now and over the past few years. Auburn was investigated to determine whether or not Cam Newton got pay for play, and Alabama was penalized in 2009 for a textbook scandal that involved 201 student athletes.

The universities are working together to make sure nothing like this happens again, but the petty nature of the rivalry and its fans is giving the state of Alabama a bad reputation.