Sts. & Hy. Code, § 730.5

Any person who by any means, without a permit issued by the department, digs up, cuts down, destroys, prunes, trims, or otherwise injures any tree or shrub on any state highway, rights-of-way, or property shall be liable for a penalty in the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each tree so damaged and one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each shrub so damaged; and the department, in the name of the people of the State of California, may recover the penalty in an action at law, in a court of competent jurisdiction, together with the costs and expenses, including attorney and expert fees, incurred in the action and the actual costs incurred because of the damage to any tree or shrub on state property.