Some good suggestions on how to remove it but I’d like to add replacing it with a button head cap screw, ideally torx.

A plug in mower? Hopefully the cable was orange or something, that sounds risky.

My parents always had lawns but always had a battery powered mower. They currently have a small lawn that continues to their neighbor’s yard that they’re planning to replace with something more eco-friendly & drought-tolerant.

Was that just from the weight of the snow?