MANY residents in Liutang Community in Xixiang Subdistrict, Bao’an District, were heartbroken after a 100-year-old banyan tree in the community was cut by mistake by a landscaping company April 30, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Wednesday.

Liu Zhizhong, who was born and raised in the community, said that he has been protecting the tree since 2009 after he was entrusted by the local village to take care of a temple located beside the tree. He spent 5,000 yuan (US$725) building a metal fence around the tree eight years ago.

According to Liu, there used to be a tree hole where worshippers would put incense inside to worship the tree. Liu covered the hole with soil because he was worried that the incense might endanger the tree’s long-term health.

He said that some elderly residents had cried after seeing the tree being cut, leaving only a bald trunk.

There is a blue signboard in front of the tree, noting that the banyan tree is a healthy 12-meter-tall ancient tree with a 100-year history.

Liu said that the tree was as high as the four-story building behind it before it was cut. Liu’s 18-year-old son said that many residents didn’t know when the landscaping company’s workers began cutting the tree. The workers said that they cut the tree in accordance with the subdistrict office’s requirements.

The landscaping company’s spokesperson said that they clipped the tree because it was found to have pests and diseases, and they cut the withered part of its trunk above 6.5 meters and its branches that had inclined to one side.

Xixiang Subdistrict’s ancient tree maintenance center has irrigated several bottles of nutrient solution to the tree since it was cut. The center’s spokesperson said that the shape of the leafless tree was ruined and it might have difficulties re-germinating.

The subdistrict’s municipal construction engineering affairs center said that it had gotten approval from the subdistrict office and entrusted the landscaping company to clip the tree after its staffers found that the tree had inclined to one side in January, which might have posed a danger to pedestrians.

The center said that the company had clipped the tree excessively and it ordered the company to take measures to remedy the situation. (Zhang Yang)