Mystery surrounds the removal of several trees outside the Whanganui courthouse.
Three of the six London plane trees outside the courthouse, on the corner of Market Pl and Bates St, were recently removed. However, tall stumps remain in the ground.
Local botanist Colin Ogle said he was dismayed to see the trees had been taken out.
"But just as worrying as the loss of the trees is the fact that each was well cared for in its own plot with neat brickwork, just the sort of surrounds that should have ensured the trees' survival for 100 years," he said.
Inquiries about the trees by the Wanganui Chronicle to the WDC and Ministry of Justice proved fruitless.
