Why were a couple of majestic and mature Ficus nitida trees on St Dominic Square, Rabat, so maliciously and ruthlessly vandalised with the (assumed) blessing of the local council? The trees depicted in the photograph are now all but destroyed. The trees' shape has been obliterated, while the huge open wounds caused by the removal of very large limbs are now open to infection by dry rot.

I can go on ad nauseam providing technical reasons why trees should never be cut this way - suffice it to say that such brutalised trees may have just as well been removed and their timber used for firewood.

Was a qualified and practising arboriculturist consulted before these trees were put to the chainsaw? Don't be so stupid, Dr Adrian, this is Malta, remember! We Maltese don't need some degree-toting academically qualified horticultural/arboricultural practitioner dictating to a local politician how to destroy, sorry, prune trees.

But why am I making such a fuss? Surely, the trees will shoot again to form lovely lollipops, won't they? It's a real pity that the hundreds of birds that used to roost in the trees have to find alternative lodging, but then again the benches and underlying parked cars will remain clean, won't they?

Isn't it true that these trees were causing my severe bouts of asthma? So what was the reason behind this atrocity? Would I be too cynical to think that perhaps a few extra promised votes in the next general election were behind this decision? Perhaps all other local councils can take a leaf from Rabat council's book and do the same thing to all of Malta's Ficus trees.

To stop this madness, it is high time that we have a committee made up of qualified, practising professionals responsible for the design and implementation of a national policy on the management of mature trees in all urban areas of Malta and Gozo, irrespective of whether these trees fall under the responsibility of the central or local government.

With all due respect, mayors have no idea about tree management, less are they qualified to do the job, and yet sadly it is they who decide how existing mature trees should be managed, usually with disastrous results.

You don't have to be an Einstein to realise that Malta needs greenery badly and unless we stop this massacre of trees planted by our forefathers, it is futile planting new trees in landscaping and afforestation projects. It takes 50 years to produce such a wonderful majestic tree, but less than 50 minutes to destroy it. No wonder I sometimes feel like a hamster going round and round in circles!

With my colleagues I continue to strive for landscaping and horticultural excellence on our roads and public gardens, while mayors continue to lollipop our tall trees simply to satisfy their voters' ill-conceived whims.

At ELC, we continuously resist local councils' and other requests for similar butchering of trees, and our arboriculture section are under strict orders not to remove a tree limb with a diameter of more than 10 cm without the explicit permission of the head of section, Larry Shoemake, who I must add, is the only qualified and practising arboriculturist on the island.

We at ELC love our trees and regard them with the respect that they truly deserve. Only when we collectively understand the enormous health and well-being benefits that such mature trees provide to us all will we use our chainsaws very judiciously.

In the meantime, I and the remainder of the team at ELC will continue to educate and provide professional guidance in tree management for the common good of all Maltese.