KEY POINTS:
A chainsaw used in the 1994 attack on the Monterey pine on Auckland's One Tree Hill being offered for sale on Trade Me had reached $10,500 late last night.
The chainsaw's seller, "straighteye, aka Mike from Kerikeri", urged bidders to get in quick, before Trade me took the auction down.
More than 13,500 people had viewed the page and about 130 had sent messages to the vendor in the first day of the auction. "The chainsaw is absolutely authentic, it's not a scam," he posted, replying to a question.
Seeing it as a symbol of colonial oppression, activist Mike Smith took a chainsaw to the pine tree, planted to replace a totara chopped down by Pakeha in 1852. The 125-year-old pine remained standing for several years but was too damaged to survive and was felled by Auckland City Council in 2000.
"Mike Smith is not the vendor. The money is going to support a local development initiative," straighteye wrote.
The news of the auction brought a flood of disapproval, sparking a poll on whether the chainsaw should be pulled from auction. The poll ends at 9am today. The starting price was $5000.
Trade Me said yesterday the chainsaw would be pulled off the site if the vote against it was overwhelming.
Trade Me users tried to blow the auction out by placing multimillion-dollar bids, as was done with the Tana Umaga handbag.
Yesterday, people on the Trade Me message boards and radio talkback almost unanimously criticised the sale, claiming it was wrong to profit from selling something used for a crime.
A Trade Me spokesman said police had said the sale was legal, however the level of community concern had prompted the poll.
- NZPA
