KANE'OHE — Workers cut down three large kiawe trees yesterday at the Yacht Club Knolls townhouse complex, but not before an effort by a 15-year-old boy to try to save one of the trees.

Rinchen Harrison, a resident at the 86-unit complex on Kane'ohe Bay Drive, drew homemade signs and sat in front of one of the trees for less than an hour at midday before leaving, allowing workers to finish the job.

"If they can do that, you don't know what's going to come down next," said Harrison, a student at Le Jardin Academy. "That's like the whole beauty of where we live. It's the trees and the land."

Yacht Club Knolls' board of directors voted to remove the trees because of liability issues, said Debbie Gleason, the complex's property manager. The kiawe trees hung over the pool and their thorny branches fell in the playground where barefoot children play, Gleason said.

Before voting on the removal, the board researched whether the trees could be trimmed back and saved, but the deadwood and thorns made it impossible to maintain, she said.

"We're going to replace the trees with more ornamental, forgiving trees," Gleason said.

Harrison, who was let out of school early yesterday, said he was shocked to see tree trimmers cutting down the three kiawe trees, which were 30 to 50 feet tall.

With one of the three trees still standing, Harrison drew up a couple of signs saying "Save the Tree" and "Help Protect the Plant" and sat in front of the tree.

His mother, Debbie Harrison, said her son was never in danger because he was protesting while the workers were on lunch break, but said she did ask him to leave when they returned and he refused.

Police showed up. Rinchen Harrison said at that point he left because he did not want his mother arrested for child endangerment.

Debbie Harrison said she was glad that her son stood up for the tree and she felt the board should have allowed residents to vote on the issue. Gleason, the property manager, said there was no time to notify residents because the tree trimmer wanted to do the job right away. Debbie Harrison's complaint was the only one she was aware of, Gleason said.

Back at their townhome, Debbie Harrison told Rinchen, "I salute you. I just hope we have kids like you in our future who are going to stand up for our world and our environment."

Yacht Club Knolls is made up of two-story townhouses that are surrounded by open space and hundreds of trees, including monkeypod and palm trees that create a lush environment that shades the community and obscures the buildings from passersby.