An Italian mountain town is trying to stop their favourite tree being cut down and given to Pope Francis for Christmas.

The 200-year-old fir, nicknamed The Green Giant, has been earmarked as a gift to the Vatican where it will form the centrepiece of St Peter’s Square’s festive celebrations.

But nearly 40,000 people have signed a petition calling for the beloved 100ft conifer – growing on a hillside near the city of Trento in the northern region of Trentino-South Tyrol – to be spared from the axe.  

Residents from Trento and surrounding villages say the felling of such an old tree runs counter to Pope Francis’ repeated pleas to protect the environment and combat climate change.

“We’re against this useless sacrifice,” the protesters say in an open letter to the Argentinian pontiff, 87, who has made caring for the environment one of the key motifs of his papacy.

“It doesn’t make sense to talk about the fight against climate change and then perpetuate traditions like this, which require the death of a tree that is so old and symbolic.”

The Alpine locals said the Pope had written several encyclicals – open letters on specific themes – about the importance of protecting the environment.

The Green Giant has been growing in a forest in Val di Ledro, a valley near Lake Garda.

Each year a tree is given to the Vatican by one of Italy’s 20 regions or another European country. In the past, trees have been gifted by Germany, Slovenia, Austria and Poland.