Uh, perhaps your 'evil' neighbor is doing good.
The 'drilled' hole appears to me to be a borer. Your (now nice) neighbor cut the notch to remove the grub and apply insecticide so the tree does not split and fall on your kids or car?
City is apparently 12 years behind the curve on trees,
http://sfist.com/2014/11/13/san_franciscos_troublesome_ficus_tr.php
The 'drilled' hole appears to me to be a borer. Your (now nice) neighbor cut the notch to remove the grub and apply insecticide so the tree does not split and fall on your kids or car?
City is apparently 12 years behind the curve on trees,
http://sfist.com/2014/11/13/san_franciscos_troublesome_ficus_tr.php