A patisserie owner in an upmarket Tunis suburb was handed a three-month jail sentence Thursday for chopping down an ancient eucalyptus tree because it was obstructing his shopfront, court sources said.

They said the man was convicted in a Carthage court for causing "damage to the property of others" and also ordered to pay a fine of 1,000 dinars ($500).

He cut down the massive, hundred-year-old tree on Monday, angering locals who started a petition to demand the authorities take action, Tunisian media said, while social media was awash with images of the downed tree.