Auburn man identified, charged in Toomer’s Corner fire

A 29-year-old Auburn man has been arrested and charged for setting fire to one of Auburn’s famous oak trees at Toomer’s Corner.

Auburn police announced the arrest in a news release Sunday that Jochen Wiest, 29, was taken into custody on a charge of desecration of a venerable object.

Jochen Wiest, 29, was arrested and charged Sunday morning in connection to the tree fire at Toomer’s Corner. (Mugshot via Auburn police)Though he had not been identified at the time, Wiest originally was arrested on a separate charge of public intoxication in the area, where he was being held on $500 bond at the Lee County Detention Center. After witnesses identified him as a suspect in connection to the tree…