A fir tree which found itself at the centre of a feud between the ‘pettiest neighbours ever’ has become an unlikely tourist attraction.
The tree was at the centre of a three year long dispute between two warring families in the area.
Bharat Mistry and his family were left gutted in 2021 when their neighbours Irene and Graham Lee sliced half the branches off the 16ft fir that had stood outside their homes for for 25 years.
The Lee family took the drastic decision supposedly because birds had been nesting in there and damaging their driveway with droppings.
But now the leafy Sheffield suburb of Waterthorpe are noticing sightseers are gathering to catch a glimpse of the unusual fir – which even has its own Google reviews.
The Fir tree in the leafy Sheffield suburb of Waterthorpe has been at the centre of a three year long dispute between two warring families. It has since become an unexpected tourist attraction as sightseers gather to catch a glimpse of the ‘half tree’
The tree has even been tagged as a tourist attraction on Google Maps and visitors have left reviews
Google reviewer Rachael Brown gave the attraction a five star review describing it as ‘an interesting tree!’
One reviewer – who left a three star rating – wrote: ‘Interesting tree that was cut in half due to a feud between the two neighbours.
‘The story was also over the news and was interesting to visit the location and see the news turn into real life.
‘Google street view is not updated since 10 years ago, so you can actually see the original tree before it was cut off.
‘Not worth driving a long distance, but if you were nearby, it’s worth paying a visit.’
Google reviewer Rachael Brown gave the attraction a five star review describing it as ‘an interesting tree!’
Neighbours said the pair still haven’t repaired their relationship since the spat sparked global headlines.
The fir tree before and after it was sliced-in-half. Bharat Mistry and his family were left gutted in 2021 when their neighbours Irene and Graham Lee sliced half the branches off the 16ft fir that had stood outside their homes for for 25 years
One woman, who didn’t want to be named said: ‘I just think it’s funny. I think it’s been trimmed back again because you’d have thought it would have grown back by now.
‘I think now it’s like a landmark. You get all the walkers coming round and they all come on the street for a look. They go up to it and take photographs.
‘Even when houses have gone for sale, they’ve used it as a directional tool and said ‘it’s near that half tree’. It’s become famous, so they may as well keep it like that now.’
Another nearby resident said: ‘They’re both nice neighbours, I wave to them both.
‘When it first happened, people would drive into the street and drive past slowly for a good look.
‘It’s worn off a bit now, people are used to it, but you still see people having a nosey.
‘I think people are just amazed that two neighbours that used to like each other ended up arguing over that and it went that far.
‘I can understand both – he wanted his beautiful tree, which was shaped and well-kept and the other one is always shining his drive and washing his car.
‘He puts his car there and the birds went in the tree and it’s not even his tree.
‘They both keep their gardens nice, so you can understand both of their standpoints.
‘But when you go past, they both wave to you, they’re both nice people.’
One woman, who didn’t want to be named said: ‘I just think it’s funny. I think it’s been trimmed back again because you’d have thought it would have grown back by now. ‘I think now it’s like a landmark’
A photograph of the tree was anonymously sent into Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 tv show in June 2021 and was since turned into memes on social media
The photograph was anonymously sent into Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 tv show in June 2021 and was since turned into memes on social media.
Speaking in 2021, Mr Mistry said he was ‘absolutely distraught’ when the tree was chopped down.
He told how he and his family watched on in horror as a team of tree surgeons hacked away at their beloved tree.
He said: ‘We pleaded and pleaded with them not to do it, but their mind was made up. That tree was coming down.
‘I believe he has the right to cut down anything that is overhanging onto his property. But you have to ask, why after 25 years would you do that?
‘He can get his car on and off the drive with no issues.
‘We had asked if we could get it trimmed back and put a net in it so it would stop birds getting in, but there was no compromise with them.’
Pictured: Irene Lee. The Lee family took the drastic decision to chop the tree in half supposedly because birds had been nesting in there and damaging their driveway with droppings
Bharat Mistry (left) and his wife Singita (right). Speaking in 2021, Mr Mistry said he was ‘absolutely distraught’ when the tree was chopped down. He told how he and his family watched on in horror as a team of tree surgeons hacked away at their beloved tree
Mr Mistry added: ‘It has been there for 25 years and we’d trimmed into a ball shape with agreement with the neighbour and he has been fine about it.
‘But recently there have been birds in the tree which you would expect at this time of the year.
‘He started off by putting black bin liners in the tree to stop the birds sitting there.
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‘It is really sad to look at, because the tree has been there for so long and it’s a really pretty tree.
‘We’ve had a lot of people walking past to look at it, people you can just tell have come out of their way to walk their dog on a different route to have a look.
‘People have stopped to take pictures, there has been a lot posted on social media.
‘You think we’d probably do the same if it was another house, but it does feel a bit like an invasion of privacy.’
Neither of the families were available to speak on this occasion. However, a defiant Mrs Lee previously said: ‘The birds weren’t really the problem, the tree was blocking our driveway.
‘What you can see at the moment is a third of what the tree was – we had two thirds of it hanging over on our side.
‘We got it professionally trimmed, afterwards the tree surgeon told me “you know it’s going to grow back?”
‘If that’s the case then I’ll cut it again, especially if it grows out too much.
‘The neighbours may own the tree but if it overhangs on our property then we are legally allowed to trim it back.’
