An eye-catching tree planted by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 17 years ago on the premises of Gopalganj's Tungipara Parjatan Motel has been felled.
Manager of Parjatan Corporation's 'Hotel Madhumati' Farukuzzaman cut down the tree, creating resentment among locals.
Meanwhile, locals demanded punishment of the hotel manager who has already been closed to Dhaka.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina planted the Christmas tree on July 13, 2001 while inaugurating Hotel Madhumati, said hotel distributor Md Habibur Rahman.
He said Farukuzzaman felled the tree along with 18 other Debdaru trees on the plea of cleaning the motel premises.
Deputy Manager of Madhumati Sheikh Ziaul Haque said he asked the manager not to cut down the tree.
"But he did it when I was not there. As I protested it, he (Faruk) got angry with me," he said.
However, Faruk said he joined the hotel as its manager just two months ago and nobody informed him that the tree had been planted by the Prime Minister. "The tree got a bent in such a way that nobody could see the nameplate of hotel clearly from outside. I would not have cut down it had I known that the Prime Minister planted it," he said.
Tungipara municipality mayor Sheikh Ahammad Hossain Mirza said they got shocked hearing that the tree was felled as it bore the memories of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina.
According to UNB, chairman of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation Akhtaruzzaman Khan Kabir said Farukuzzaman was closed to Dhaka and the corporation sent an investigation team to Tungipara to look into the matter.
"Action will be taken after getting the investigation report." he added.