300-year-old olive tree falls victim to road construction in Sibenik

"A 300-year-old olive tree has been pulled out and destroyed because it got in the way of construction work on a local road not far from Sibenik (Dalmatia).

The ancient tree had been growing on the state land that previously belonged to Josip Vlahov’s family, who been caring for the plant for years. The tree found itself in the way of the reconstruction of the local road and the workers cut it up and dumped it on a landfill.

An olive expert Zoran Badurina says that the damage done cannot be measured.

'Such behaviour is not in accordance with the standards of natural heritage preservation,' Badurina said.

According to some estimates, a value of a 300-year-old olive tree could be anywhere around 20,000 Euros."
read more