Why would someone do that?
That was the question most asked by tourists, visitors and locals at Lake Wanaka's famous tree when they saw branches had been cut from the willow and discarded on the shore.
When Paul Hanninen, of Finland, arrived at the lakefront at 4am yesterday to take a sunrise photograph of the well-known tree, he said he thought something was different about it.
"It was only when others got here and started talking about how the branches were cut off I thought, of course, that is what is different."
Wanaka's most photographed and instagrammed tree became a popular tourist destination after Lake Wanaka Tourism promoted it on its website in 2014.