It was One Tree Hill again - but not for long

The pohutukawa mysteriously planted at the top of One Tree Hill at the weekend will be removed by council staff this week. Picture / Greg Bowker

UPDATE - A tree graced One Tree Hill again, but only until Auckland City Council workers got up there.

The council said today a pohutukawa planted at the summit at the weekend was removed this morning. The tree had been snapped in two before the workers arrived to take it down.

It is not the first time a mystery person has planted a tree on the hill, bare since the council cut down what was left of the landmark lone pine about four years ago.

Maori activist Mike Smith had taken to it with a chainsaw in 1994 and the damage he inflicted ultimately forced the council's hand.

Mr Hubbard said last night that new trees, probably pohutukawa, could be planted at the summit as soon as mid-year. A number would be planted in the hope that a dominant tree might emerge.

The mayor said the council had agreed with Ngati Whatua that replanting would be delayed until the tribe's treaty claims were settled - likely in the next few months.

The pohutukawa appeared with a plaque bearing the words "one nation", but Mr Hubbard did not know "whether that's the organisation, or just a statement". Either way, the tree has to go as it is "politically inappropriate".