Lea Tree
{{Short description|Tree that was the subject of vandalism in 1983}}
{{Sources exist|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
The Lea Tree is a 2,500 year old Huon pine growing on the Lower Gordon River in Tasmania. It was vandalised in 1983. However, it is still alive and growing.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecurb.com.au/franklin-review-a-reminder-that-people-are-not-powerless-to-stand-up-to-environmental-destruction/|title=Franklin Review – A Reminder That People Are Not Powerless to Stand Up to Environmental Destruction – The Curb|date=5 September 2022|website=www.thecurb.com.au|accessdate=3 October 2023|archive-date=11 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811050855/https://www.thecurb.com.au/franklin-review-a-reminder-that-people-are-not-powerless-to-stand-up-to-environmental-destruction/|url-status=live}}
Vandalism
On 5 July 1983, the tree, 9 feet (3 metres) in diameter, was chainsawed, then oil was poured into holes made by the perpetrators and set alight. The fire burnt for 24 hours.{{Cite book|title=Wayward governance : illegality and its control in the public sector|publisher=Australian Institute of Criminology|year=1989|first=Peter N.|last=Grabosky|isbn=0-642-14605-5|pages=255–263|chapter=Chapter 17: Vandalism of the Lea Tree|chapter-url=https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/previous%20series/lcj/1-20/wayward/ch17.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130411013808/https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/previous%20series/lcj/1-20/wayward/ch17.html|archive-date=11 April 2013}}
=Motives=
The tree is thought to have been vandalised by people who supported the Franklin River Dam project, as the tree had become something of a symbol to the conservationist groups who opposed the dam.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilderness.org.au/journal/issue-020|title=Wilderness Journal #020|website=Wilderness Society|accessdate=3 October 2023|archive-date=10 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810231847/https://www.wilderness.org.au/journal/issue-020|url-status=live}} On 1 July, four days prior to the vandalism, a High Court Ruling ended the project.Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 46 ALR 625 at 733 and 734. There is one theory that it was a publicity stunt by conservationists.