"It was a last ditch attempt, it was vengeful, it was without integrity. This is what we've been dealing with for the past three years," she said.
She said those wielding chainsaws were intent on delivering a fatal blow to the tree as ring-barking stopped the flow of water to the canopy.
The protesters took the dispute to the High Court last year where they were granted a judicial review of the way resource consent was granted for felling the kauri.
That hearing will take place in August.
Smith was one of four Greenpeace protesters who scaled the walls of Parliament to draw attention to the issue of climate change last year.
The quartet who had donned red overalls and carried solar panels with them were each fined $750 when sentenced in Auckland District Court in October.
Smith will be back in Waitakere District Court in three weeks.