TBF it was meant to be nonsensical.

If you need an analogy, think of unsold books. They get their covers torn off so they can be reported as “destroyed”, and then be issued a refund. (You’ll sometimes see a message warning you about purchasing paperbacks without front covers in books.)

In the movie American Airlines made an insurance claim, or made some other claim of loss on the trees, and so they now have to destroy them.