On January 7, while on my daily run at Tal-Virtù, Rabat, in Godwin Ganado Street, I came across two men cutting down an old tree.

When I enquired if they had a Mepa permit to do so, they replied that it was the Rabat local council that had ordered them to cut it down. About four years ago someone had tried to kill this tree by cutting a slot all around the circumference of its bark. At the time I reported this to Mepa but I was sent from one office to another in a polite bureaucratic attempt to make me give up.

I had reported this incident to the Rabat police station but the police on duty asked me whether I witnessed the deed, and when I answered in the negative I was told that there was nothing the police could do.

My last resort at the time was to take a video of this tree and send it to Nature Trust but, unfortunately, nothing was ever done to save this tree.

It is very ironic that when strong winds pushed over "Rabat's landmark crucifix-shaped tree" a lot of phone calls were received by the authorities demanding action to save this beloved tree, yet when there is another Aleppo Pine tree in the same state only about six trees away, no one bothers about it. It seems that some people are worshippers of false gods. In this day and age when the environment is constantly being promoted, and people are urged to plant a tree for every occasion, it seems that some trees are more equal than others.

I would like to know how many trees are going to be planted in Rabat to make up for this one, where and when. I can suggest some locations like the two empty planters in St Dominic's Square in Rabat and Buskett Road.

If this happens I promise that I will involve myself and school children in the planting, to promote a culture of tree-loving citizens, not false gods worshippers.