A tree has snapped and crashed into a parked car in Auckland's St Patrick's Square, causing severe damage to the uninsured vehicle.
The impact has shattered the car's windscreen and crushed the roof.
Police are the scene and the area around the Wyndham St site has been cordoned off.
Sam Lovli said he was about six metres away when the tree fell. There was no one in the vehicle but the tree narrowly missed people in the square, he said.
"I was just getting lunch and I saw in my peripherals the tree falling down and then smash into the red car.
"Everyone's ok. It's quite a public area, the walkway. Everyone goes to the park adjacent to it to have their lunch. I'd say it's definitely a near miss - if it had fallen in a different direction it would have smashed somebody up."
Lovli said the driver of the vehicle had been on their lunch break and returned to their car minutes after the tree fell.
"The poor bloke didn't have insurance, either. Rough day."
He said the base of the tree was completely rotten.
"I went and checked it out and kicked where the tree had snapped and it just fell to pieces. So it was going to happen any day now."
Source of the "really unpleasant" noise has been identified, but a fix is some time away.