Carving up some trouble

Andy Cunningham, of Hermitage, was divorced last fall.

He says he hasn't seen his two daughters, Christian, 11, and Jade, 9, for almost two months.

So when Jade's birthday came up recently, Cunningham wanted to give her a different kind of gift that would be around for a long time.

Cunningham, a truck-driver, drove to a waterfall in White County -- one of the last places he had taken his two daughters. And as a gift to Jade, he carved her name in a tree, took a photograph of the tree and sent it to a sister-in-law, who he says gave it to the children's mother.

He also had written a poem to his daughter.

"Behind these trees, I cried, wishing you were here by my side," the poem said.

After seeing her dad's carving, his oldest daughter, Christian, wanted her name carved in a tree. So a few days later, he put his knife to work again and sent the photo to Christian.

While his daughters like the tree-carvings, someone else apparently didn't. It wasn't long before he learned the White County Sheriff wanted to see him.

Earlier this week, Cunningham visited the Sheriff's office and discovered her had been indicted for vandalism for his handy work.

The girl's father says deputies gave him an orange jump suit to put on, shackled his ankles and put him behind bars for almost two hours before he could post a $1,000 bond.


***Hmmm I wonder who could have ratted him out?!?!? Hmmm?!?!?