Man arrested for felling kauri tree at Whangārei Hospital appears in court

This 80-year-old kauri tree at Whangārei Hospital was allegedly cut down on July 16, by a man who used the cover of a storm. Photo / File

A Northland man charged over the felling of a kauri tree at Whangārei Hospital has been remanded to reappear in court next month.

The 51-year-old, from Whangārei, faced a charge of intentional damage when he appeared in the Manukau District Court yesterday in relation to the attack on the tree last month.

He was remanded to reappear in the Whangārei District Court on September 9. No further details of the man can be released at this stage.

Police arrested the man in Auckland over the weekend after earlier putting out a public appeal for information, and a CCTV image of the alleged offender.

The 80-year-old tree, outside the Jim Carney Cancer Treatment Centre on the Whangārei Hospital campus, was cut down during a storm on July 15, about 10.45pm, and the act was captured on CCTV.

The footage showed a man with a large yellow chainsaw, placing orange road cones around the fall area and then cutting down the tree, waving to the cameras as he left.

Police released CCTV images in the hope that somebody recognised him.

NDHB has blessed the downed kauri tree and site where it was felled in a ceremony conducted by kaumatua Rex Nathan.

A ready-made replacement has been found but it will take a while to reach the same heights.

As the site was being cleared a kauri sapling from the tree was found growing in the foliage beneath where the tree stood.