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(Image: CEN)

Daughter Franziska, 19, was killed in the car crash in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on August 16 when her vehicle hit the tree.

The girl, who was studying to become a zookeeper in a nearby town, was on her way home when the accident happened one afternoon.v

(Image: CEN)

She was between the towns of Stokkem and Jakobwuellesheim, when for unknown reasons her Volkswagen Polo swung off the carriageway and crashed into the tree. Authorities never determined out the cause of the accident.

Yet the German authorities have blamed her for damaging the tree in the accident. Local media report that the "wound" of the tree is merely 50 by 35 centimetres (20 by 14 inches) big, which resulted in a 20 percent loss of functionality.

The authorities sent an invoice of €548 (£481) to Franziska's shocked mother to pay for the costs.

(Image: CEN)

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She said: "The wounds of the tree will heal. Ours will not."

However, the case was clear to the German bureaucrats who have refused to back down.

Gerhard Decker, the manager of the state company for road construction, said: "If there is damage to a tree or crash barrier caused by a car, we will charge the person that caused it and their insurer. "It is always like that. In this case I am really sorry. I have a 19-year-old son myself. But the rules are the rules."