Hi Ed, you're not going to like this answer but the most likely reason that they sprayed paint on the tree is that they are planning to cut it down soon. This is typical for the local government to do in certain situations, i.e., sick trees, safety hazards, etc. You can contact the local government to find out for sure, and see if there is anything you can do to stop them. Oh, one other thought is that maybe it's just marked for trimming if it's close to or in contact with any overhead lines.

Wick, Thanks for the reply. Luckily my tree has a better fate in store. What they marked was the height of the 100-year flood elevation so they could show my homebuilder how high my first floor had to be. They're through with the mark now ... but it remains.

Just a suggestion off the top of my head ....maybe you can sand it off....it will leave a mark, and you'd be careful not to dig too deep into the bark. Eventually, mother nature will cover the mark.

Living around a army corp of engineer controlled lake, we have a number of "witness trees" and their markings. Often, as surveys are redone, the markings have to be changed. The rangers don't remove the orange paint; rather, they paint over it with a brown or black that blends with the tree. Perhaps you could find a color to match your bark -- perhaps even some of the "textured" spray paints could at least cover the orange until you could find a better solution.

Try using pruning sealer. It's black and pretty thick so it should'nt have a problem covering over the orange.

thank you for the information. When my grandson (he's 5) painted our tree in the backyard blue, I didnt know what to do to get the paint off. I will try your suggestions and in the future make sure there isn't any paint for him to get ahold of.

Vinegar! Bresh/rub/scrub with vinegar, water the ground good to let the stuff run off, It worked for me with no problem. Tree is as healty as can be.