The case of the mysteriously felled tree

This photo needs explanation beyond the translation. The sign hanging from the side of the truck says the following: "Greenpeace extracted a Brazil-Nut tree from an area that had been impounded by the federal government." It's a scathing accusation, hung on the truck that was transporting said tree (trunk) from Castelo de Sonhos to points south. And the thing is, it's absolutely true, if bizarre. Two weeks ago, the world-renowned environmental organization Greenpeace entered a sustainable-development settlement on the margins of the Br-163 outside Castelo, and dragged out a 52 ft. long castanheira trunk, a species protected by Brazilian law against being cut. Greenpeace claims that they had government permission to remove the trunk, and that in fact the tree had already been cut down and partially burned by a rancher (this is unconfirmed). The population of Castelo, already very critical of Greenpeace's activities, didn't let the team leave the town with the trunk. Greenpeace was planning to transport the log to a "exposition illuminating the problems of deforestation" in São Paulo, but were compelled to abandon the tree when they were surrounded by nearly 300 Castelo residents. The climate was tense, but the situation ended peacefully.

When writing about the Br-163, Greenpeace functionaries often make sweeping accusations, blaming all roadside residents (ranchers, smallholder farmers, sustainable development projects, etc.) of the area for the accelerating destruction of the rainforest. As a result, the 300 protesters who forced Greenpeace to abandon the tree-trunk represented a cross-section of Castelo society, all of whom were mystified as to why an environmentalist organization would come to Castelo and remove a tree. No one missed the situation's irony.