Wizard tree conjures up debate over art in Oakland Mills

The wizard of Macomber Lane stands about 8 feet tall.

He towers over a bed of asters, echinacea and other flowers planted to attract butterflies in Debbie and Roger Matherly's front yard in Oakland Mills, clutching a staff nearly as big as himself with an owl perched on his shoulder and a fox standing watch at his foot.

He used to be a pine tree, but once his rotting branches started to threaten the Matherlys' roof, they knew it was time for a change. Instead of cutting down the pine and carting it off, they chose to take a more creative route.

"What if we have a statue there instead of a stump?" Roger Matherly said.

So the couple commissioned local carver Evelyn Mogren, who lives just two miles away on Thunder Hill Road, and about a month later, their stump was transformed into a wizard.

He's already cast his spell on the neighbors.

"I think it's awesome," said Kishonna McKenzie, who lives next door.

"It looks like that guy from the Lord of the Rings," her husband, Lamont McKenzie, added.

But the wizard almost couldn't work his magic on Columbia's covenants.

When the Matherlys brought their application to a village committee in charge of approving front-yard structures and other additions to a property, members decided not to give the wizard their blessing at least not if he stayed in front of the house.

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Wizard tree conjures up debate over art in Oakland Mills