On Thursday, 21 October, our Reader called us:
Because of the windstorm, the fire service was sent to the Gromadka area. The firefighters arrived and cut down a 35-year-old tree: beautiful, healthy and completely undamaged. I had looked after this tree for 33 years and considered it the most beautiful tree in the entire village. It was our pride; this tree protected us.
The spruce, the woman who reported the matter stressed, stood on private property. She suspected that it had been cut down because one of the neighbours was afraid it would fall on their outbuilding. However, as the woman reported, that would have been impossible because Thursday’s wind was blowing in the opposite direction. She also noted that the tree posed no danger to anyone.
The woman added:
At this point, nobody wants to talk to me, but I would like to find the person responsible. Was it perhaps done out of envy?
In her opinion, the tree was removed unlawfully.
However, as Tomasz Matyjewicz, secretary of Gromadka Municipality, informed us, everything was done lege artis, on the basis of the Nature Conservation Act:
The tree was cut down by the Volunteer Fire Service in Wierzbowa after a report was made to the 112 emergency number about a safety hazard.
He added:
The Volunteer Fire Service has the right to respond in this way because the tree had been damaged by the wind and could have fallen at any moment. I confirm the condition of the tree before it was cut down, as I was at the scene at the same time as the Wierzbowa Volunteer Fire Service, which carried out the cutting.
Will a new tree be planted, as a replacement for the one that was cut down? T. Matyjewicz:
If that is the will of the Residents, Gromadka Municipality will plant a sapling of the same species as the tree blown down by the wind in this place.