On October 1, 1877, members of the society sent a condolence telegram to the city hall of Iași in Romania, in order to mark the centenary of the beheading of Grigore III Ghica, who had refused to cede Bukovina to Austria. A second, celebratory, telegram was sent to the Romanian capital Bucharest in order to mark the Fall of Plevna during the war. The imperial Austrian authorities, also taking into account the subsidies received from Romania, considered these as acts of treason, and disbanded the society on November 11. This act prompted a fierce reaction in the Romanian-language press, both in Hungarian-ruled Oradea, and in Iași and Bucharest. In particular, an article by C. A. Rosetti published repeatedly in "Românul" created a stir within Bucharest's diplomatic circles, and also drew notice from Vienna. A search at Arboroasa headquarters revealed compromising documents from societies in the Transylvanian cities of Blaj and Gherla, as well as in Vienna.