Chinese villagers cut down live endangered tree to make coffin to house the dead
Police are investigating the chopping down of the protected tree, the trunk of which measured 1.4 metres in diameter
A magnolia tree listed as an endangered species has been cut down near a village in southern China to be made into a coffin.
The felled parakmeria yunnanensis magnolia tree – a species protected by the Chinese government since 1991 – was found outside the town of Lianhuatanxiang in Yunnan province, according to the news site YunnanExpress. The trees are native to evergreen forests in southern China and Southeast Asia and feature highly fragrant blooms.
Local officials investigated after a local forest protection group posted photos on social networking site Weibo last Thursday of a destroyed tree near the town, saying it had been made into a coffin. The group said the trunk of the felled tree measured 1.4 metres in diameter.
Forest investigators from the local public security bureau found the destroyed tree near the village, along with some partly processed wood.
