A PROTECTED tree that blocked a stunning view of Poole Harbour has been mysteriously hacked down.

The 12m Scots pine, which stood in the garden of a house in Heavytree Road, Parkstone, was felled in the early hours of Sunday morning.

An intruder broke through a fence and used a chainsaw to bring down the tree, which only narrowly avoided crashing on to the houses around it.

Removal of the 52-year-old tree, the subject of a preservation order, has opened up panoramic views and raised questions over the motives for its destruction.

Andy Dearing, Poole council’s planning enforcement officer, described it as “one of the most selfish acts I have witnessed”.

“This takes tree destruction to a whole new level,” he said.

“I am shocked at the audacity of someone who can enter a private property in the middle of the night to do this,” Mr Dearing added Steve Bransgrove, the current tenant at the house, said he was awoken by the sound of the chainsaw at around 2am on Sunday.

“There was then the biggest crash and the whole house shook,” he said.

A bird’s nest full of eggs was also brought down with the tree.

Intriguingly, there is a precedent for the incident.

A similarly sized tree was mysteriously sliced down in the garden just before the sale of the house was about to go through a number of years ago.

The trees were both perched on an elevated area, from which you can enjoy breathtaking vistas across the harbour and the Purbecks.

But the view would have been obscured to many other properties around – until now.

The issue of killing protected trees in Poole hit national headlines earlier this year.

Methods used included ring-barking, in which trees ‘bleed’ to death, and poisoning with salt.

Dorset Police and the council have now launched an investigation into the latest crime.

Anyone with any information should contact Simon Bridge of Parkstone and Penn Hill Safer Neighbourhood team by phoning 01202 222222.