Dutch court saves Anne Frank tree from the chop

By Gilbert Kreijger

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch court granted a reprieve on Tuesday to the chestnut tree that comforted Anne Frank as she hid from the Nazis, ruling in favor of conservationists who want to stop it being felled.

Judge J. Bade said city officials should look into ways to save the 150-year-old tree and not proceed with plans to chop it down on Wednesday despite their fears it could topple over as a fungal disease has spread through most of the trunk.

The Tree Foundation, a group of tree conservationists, had sought the injunction against the felling, saying independent stability tests indicated the 27-tonne chestnut was still safe.

The Tree Foundation's Edwin Koot welcomed the decision: "The worldwide attention for this tree shows how important this tree of Anne Frank is," he told Reuters.

The Amsterdam council was swamped with messages of protest from around the world after it ordered the felling last week when tests on the trunk showed that about three-quarters of the chestnut is diseased and it could fall in a storm.

Judge Bade, whose first name was not given by the court, visited the tree himself on Tuesday before making his ruling. He said he was not convinced it posed an imminent threat.

He said city officials, the tree's owner, the Anne Frank museum and conservationists should meet to discuss the tree and come to a decision on its future within 10 weeks.

The Tree Foundation presented the court with plans to support the tree by attaching it to the Anne Frank museum with steel cables, which it said would cost only a few thousand euros and could prolong the life of the chestnut by decades.