Alabama fan who poisoned Auburn trees dies at 71

Harvey Updyke, the Alabama football fan convicted of poisoning oak trees at Auburn in 2010, has died at the age of 71.

Updyke's son, Bear Updyke, told AL.com's Mike Rodak his father died Thursday of natural causes.

Updyke, a former Texas state trooper, gained national attention when he called into "The Paul Finebaum Show" and confessed to poisoning the trees at Auburn's Toomer's Corner after the Tigers defeated the Crimson Tide in the 2010 Iron Bowl.

"Let me tell you what I did. The weekend after the Iron Bowl, I went to Auburn because I lived 30 miles away, and I poisoned the two Toomer's trees," Updyke said on Finebaum's radio show in 2011. "I put Spike 80DF in 'em. They're not dead yet, but they definitely will die."

Updyke pleaded guilty to a felony charge of criminal damage to an agricultural facility in 2013 and served more than 70 days in jail. He was also required to pay $800,000 in court-ordered penalties and restitution but had paid less than $7,000 of that amount as of last October.

Auburn later removed and replaced the oak trees. One of the replacement trees was then set on fire in 2016 following an Auburn win over LSU.