Residents of the Val Di Ledro Valley, in the Terdino Alto Adige region of northeastern Italy, are asking Pope Francis to heed their appeal: in a letter they made public through the website Change.org, they addressed the pontiff and asked him “to prevent the cutting century-old fir located in Trentino”, which is expected to be transferred to St. Peter’s Square and be decorated for Christmas.

“Our Lady, we invite you to come to our valley and visit our beautiful places”, add the residents of Trentino.

Their petition already has over 40,000 signatures. They call their fir, “green giant”, because its history exceeds two centuries and its height is 30 meters. It is located exactly where, once, Italy’s border with the Austro-Hungarian Empire was drawn, near Lake Garda.

The municipality of Leandro is preparing to spend 60,000 euros to transport the “green giant” to the Vatican. In the appeal, this amount is requested to be allocated for the needs of the 5,000 residents of the area, such as e.g. to strengthen the public health system, by recruiting family doctors.

Environmental organizations in the area also relied on a lawyer, who they asked to be active in order to prevent – or at least postpone – the cutting of this historic tree. Residents and organizations hope that their appeal will be heard and rely mainly on the strong ecological sensitivity of Pope Francis, who has put the environment at the center of his encyclicals, inspired among others by initiatives of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Residents of the Ledro Valley have also presented an alternative proposal: to place a tree in the Vatican made of wood from smaller trees uprooted or broken due to extreme weather conditions. A tree with “artistic interventions”, which could be used, with different decorations, in the years to come.