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Vandalism or Civil Matter
Taking the 'weekends off' I miss all the good stuff it seems.  .
You have a lot of good advice and ideas here, and I think 2ndHand has the right idea, a strong reply is needed.
We had a remarkably similar instance happen with one of my clients golf courses of all places. They decided to redevelop a vacant area of their land into a reception / conference facility with a large open area of gardens and grass. The wedding reception business alone would be enough to justify the building of it.
The problem was, the jerk next door, who had inherited the place from his FIL, had grown accustomed to using the place to store his junk, and using the golf course as an exercise area and toilet for his two golden retrievers. He also had a nice little business going selling all the balls the dogs picked up on their daily walk on the course.
Before we started work the course owner wrote the neighbour a polite letter informing him that work would soon begin and he needed to remove his stuff. The jerk wrote back that he had been there long enough to make it his land and he wasn't moving.
For legal reasons he actually had no claim to the land at all. So the course owner gave him 5 days to move his stuff and posted signs on the land. When we showed up it was still there. We could have merely lifted it back onto his land, but the lawyer had a better idea. We phoned a local towing service and had them drag everything to their impound yard. It apparently cost him a lot of money to bail everything out.
Things quietened down for a while after that and we finished all the construction and landscaping.
The following spring the course owner called me quite upset, during the winter the neighbour had done some 'landscaping' of his own. There was now a earth berm about 8' high between the properties and in places it was 25' out into my clients land. This was just dirt that he had got as clean fill from a construction company. He had been paid to take it.
After consulting with his lawyer and I, he had his lawyer send the jerk a letter, including a quote from me to repair the damage and remove the dirt, as well as a claim for lost revenue for bookings set for early spring functions.
My quote alone was WELL into the 5 figure range.
At the end of 5 days nothing had been said or done by the neighbour. We went in and repaired the damage and the course owner sued the neighbour.
The guy that lives in that house now is the greens-keeper for the course, the course owner got title to it when the jerk couldn't pay the judgement against him.
Maybe you should send your neighbour a quote. I'm sure if you talked nicely to one of the local contaractors they'd give you something to stick in with a letter from your lawyer.
Best of luck.
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Vandalism or Civil Matter
Ann, I think you've over-looked a few facts in the case at hand, as well as the one I related.
First, damages are probably the easiest (read cheapest) legal matter to persue. My land, your dirt, my estimate, your cheque, PERIOD.
Secondly, a golf course is not a company without feeling, a corporate monster not afraid of losing sleep. It is a mundane, quiet business that depends on public sentiment for it's very existance, it cannot afford to have a 'black eye' in the community. It is the sort of business that is purely in the 'not required' category of life, for most people anyways. A golf course with a bad reputation in the community is one without customers. I have seen, and worked on, many a course after they went bankrupt and changed hands because the owner and/or manager was jerk and people stopped going there.
My point was purely one of simple logic, the best way to get someone to stop doing something is to make them WANT to stop, or NOT do it in the first place.
That is how our entire legal system works, do something wrong, you will get punished. If you don't want punsihment don't do anything wrong.
Jerks like this don't quite understand the system, kind of like a puppy that is not yet house-broken. Just like a puppy, a few stern reminders usually gets the point across. As with dogs, peer pressure works even faster with people. When this jerk's wife gets wind of a potential lawsuit and all the expenses I'd be willing to bet she puts some real 'peer pressure' on him to sharpen up. If not, he will have some 'financial lessons' to learn.
Most people will readily take a lot of grief, and maybe a poke in the nose or worse pretty much in stride, but a hit in the wallet really seems to get their attention.
Best of luck.
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Vandalism or Civil Matter
If you are concerned about keeping the record straight be sure your video system records any police visits and have any officer present sign and write down his badge number on a 'visitor log' of your own.
It may be enough to rattle a few chains.
Best of luck.
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