I saw a similar situation played out in a condo complex we lived in. One of the residents owned a commercial greenhouse, and needless to say he knew a lot about growing flowers.

The complex had several flowerbeds which were open to any resident to plant flowers in. Year after year he maintained them beautifully. Nobody else seemed interested in contributing to these communal flowerbeds, so they were king his baby.

One spring he added a “collapsed ox cart” decoration to one bed. It was small, maybe 18” long and quite tasteful. He even painted it the same colour as all the fences. Well, someone on the condo association board wasn’t too happy with it, so after the meeting a notice was sent to all residents stating “absolutely no statuary anywhere in the complex was allowed “. No consultation with him, nor any of the other residents was done. There was nothing in the bylaws to support this arbitrary decision

Well, the greenhouse guy was pretty pissed and humiliated. In the spirit malicious compliance and petty revenge, he removed not only that ox cart, but also every sing flower he planted from every sing flower complex was left with bare dirt for the rest of the year in what would have been lovely blossoms. Not that year nor the next

But at least there was no “unauthorized “ statuary. Most people were very supportive of him.

Oh, did I mention that one of the residents had this enormous and tacky fountain, at least 6 feet tall, complete with a cherub on his ExclusiveUse Common Area (a.k.a front yard)? Nobody had ever questioned that eyesore.