Needles stripped - opinions?

[monkeywrangler71]

Posting in the garden section, since there isn't a forestry section.
Just noticed that the tops seem to be stripped on these trees. I don't care a lot, I'd just as soon be rid of them anyway, but don't want something contagious spreading to trees I care about.

Picture is attached, is as close up as I could get.

[MsMarieH]

How long have you lived there? Do you know what kind of tree it is? Some, like European Larches, drop their needles, during the winter and regrow them. Are the bare branches from the same tree as the needles that are showing? Is it possible that is a second tree growing up in the middle rather than all one tree?