Aaaaaaaaaand, going to try to bring us back on point here. Hahaha.
I met with the sponsor, when visiting the unit's progress (we have a close date by the way), and brought this up. Obviously, I don't have any way to prove or disprove what she told me, but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. That being said, she told me it was not actually a tree. It was an extremely large bush that had grown larger than anyone had anticipated. It also wasn't an owner who asked for it to be cut down. It was a renter, who had, for a long time, asked for it to be cut down. The straw that broke the camel's back was the day a pigeon flew into his house from the bush-tree, clearly in an attempt to become his roommate. Haha. So, while it, in fact, blocked people's views into the courtyard — which they already knew — it was the culmination of this resident having an unwelcome visitor fly into their home, that made them take action. And apparently the super was not a fan of it either.
So, take it for what it's worth. But it seems like the story isn't quite as clear-cut as one of the new owners coming in trying to call the shots.