Romania’s Tree of the Year, partially cut

A 200-year-old plane tree from the Romanian town of Câmpeni, in Alba county, was partially cut because it was in the way of the construction works to the town’s culture house, Adevarul reported.

Last year, it was designated the Romanian Tree of the Year and was among the finalists of the European Tree of the Year 2019 contest, which aimed to find the tree with the most interesting story.

In a video posted on a Facebook page about Câmpeni, lawyer Stana Drăgoiu, who nominated the tree for the national competition, shows the cutting of the tree.

The mayor of the town said he did not know of the significance of the tree because he did not receive an official notification about it.

The plane tree in Câmpeni is considered a landmark of the town. Before 1989, a cinema was built close to it, but the tree was protected during the works. It used to be a meeting spot for the town’s residents. The tree ranked 13th out of 15 in the European Tree of the Year 2019 contest. The trees were ranked by the number of votes received.

(Photo source: Treeoftheyear.org; photo by Claudiu Druga)

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