Chief executive-elect Leung Chun-ying might have built one of the six illegal structures at his house on The Peak after he bought it in 2000.
Ming Pao Daily has studied bird's-eye-view government photographs of the area taken over the years. It found a wooden garden shed did not exist in November 1999 - one month before Leung made the purchase.
The finding seems to contradict the reply by Leung's office, after the newspaper asked for clarification. 'The glass enclosure was formerly a wooden shed. It existed before Leung bought the estate in 2000,' Leung's office said.
The wooden shed appeared only in a photo from September 2001 - 15 months after he moved in. It was renovated into a 100 sq ft glass enclosure after the shed was damaged by termites. This structure was taken down hastily last week after Ming Pao Daily's inquiry.
The law states homeowners must seek Buildings Department approval to put up large-scale structures, such as garden sheds, or they will be deemed illegal.
Lau Kong-wah, a lawmaker from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, called on Leung to explain. 'I cannot accept Leung's explanation, that the unauthorised alterations stem from pure negligence,' he says. 'He must explain himself.'