It's believed a man has been filmed seemingly poisoning thousands of butterflies in a tree, after he allegedly became fed up with people taking happy snaps of the rare occurrence.

Video shared on Facebook on Friday morning showed the man in Queensland's Lockyer Valley taking to the colourful tree of butterflies at Zischke Rd, Plainlands.

It is alleged the man in the clip lived nearby and attempted to poison the butterlies because it attracted people to pull over and take pictures, which upset his dog.

View photos A video captures a man appearing to poison a tree in Queensland which was become home to thousands of butterflies More

"This amazing phenomena is happening in the Lockyer Valley. Butterflies by the millions," wrote Melinda Schulte, who posted the video on Friday morning.

View photos

"However the moron in the shot is poisoning them, because cars kept pulling over taking pictures and his dog keeps barking," she alleged.

Appalled social media users have reacted to the video, condemning the man.

"Oh my gosh what a monstrous act of environmental vandalism," one Facebook user wrote.

View photos Residents are upset to see the video, which could mark the end to the butterflies in their neighbourhood. Picture: Deb Larks More

"What a selfish a***hole to not be able to appreciate the beauty and only focus on his own inconvenience.

"I'm so glad my children and I were lucky enough to see the tree yesterday," she wrote.

Another said the tree was the work of "Mother Nature at its best!"

Ms Schulte claimed the local council was acting on the incident, however no one at the Lockyer Valley Regional Council was available to comment when Yahoo 7 inquired on Friday afternoon.

Top news stories - November 4