Shopowner jailed for three months for cutting down 100-year-old tree

A shopowner has been sentenced to three months in jail for chopping down a 100-year-old eucalyptus tree, Tunisian media reports.

The patisserie owner didn’t think much of the act as he told a Carthage court the tree was obstructing his shopfront.

But locals did not find it funny.

Local media reports that “angry locals” started a petition to demand the authorities take action after the man cut down the massive, century old tree on Monday.

The court was then convicted for causing “damage to the property of others”. He was also ordered to pay a fine of 1,000 dinars ($500, £358) in addition to the jail term.

Social media in Tunisia has been awash with images of the downed tree, AFP reports..