St Peter's Xmas tree gets the axe despite protests

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 19 - A 200-year-old fir tree that was one of the most beloved features of a Lake Garda town has been chopped down to be taken to Rome as the traditional St Peter's Christmas Tree despite a long and impassioned local protest.
    The fir in the Val di Ledro got the axe despite a series of torch-lit vigils aimed at "saving our fond Green Giant.
    "We are very sorry for the felling of a 31-meter fir tree," said Lorenzo Vescovi, one of the first to raise the protest against the felling.
    "What will arrive in Rome will be a dying living being. "Our battle does not stop, we want to prevent trees from being felled in this valley and anywhere else for a cruel and anachronistic custom". (ANSA).