Any person who shall wilfully injure, deface, tear, or destroy any tree or shrub planted along the margin of the highway, or purposely left there for shade or ornament, or who shall hitch any horse to any such tree, by means of which the same shall suffer injury, or who shall negligently or carelessly, by any other means, suffer any horse or other beast driven by or for him, or any beast belonging to him and lawfully in the highway, to break down, destroy, or injure any tree or shrub not his own, standing for use or ornament in any highway, shall be liable to an action for damages in a sum not less than 1 nor more than 25 dollars for each offense, to be recovered at the suit and for the benefit of the owner or tenant of the land in front of which such tree or shrub stands, or at the suit of the commissioner in whose township such tree or shrub may be situated, for the benefit of the highway improvement fund of such township.
MCL 230.6