In a few days, President Biden will be presented with a live turkey that he will undoubtedly pardon, partaking in an enduring pre-Thanksgiving ritual that may be “America’s most hokey modern presidential tradition.”

In Italy this year, environmentalists are calling on Pope Francis to stay the execution — so to speak — of a tree towering nearly 100 feet tall that hails from the northern region of Trentino and has been destined to adorn St. Peter’s Square for the Christmas season.

Citing three of Francis’s major documents on the importance of safeguarding the environment, opponents of the tree’s relocation drafted an online petition calling on the pope to “give clear signals so that we can change our approach toward respecting nature” and spare the tree.

The petition demands “no to fircide” (doubtlessly the evergreen tree equivalent of homicide), saying “Christmas trees are a pagan tradition and have nothing to do with the birth of Christ.”

Ancient Romans are believed to have decorated their homes with evergreen boughs to mark the winter solstice during a feast called Saturnalia. But decorated trees later took root throughout Europe as part of the Christian holiday festivities, with Latvia and Estonia having squabbled over being the site of the world’s first decorated Christmas tree.

In Italy, where many churches and families still celebrate Christmas with miniature nativity scenes, the Christmas tree tradition only really took hold after the end of World War II.