"It is like going into a forest in a national campground and saying I am going to make this tree my own, not by sitting under it and photographing it etc., but by trimming the branches and painting happy faces on it or whatever"

No, it isn't. A tree is damaged forever by such 'improvements' whereas if I change a song that I sing to my dog, no material damage is done and no one really even knows the difference unless I talk about it.