Nigel Quérée, a former Senator and Planning and Environment Committee president, arrived on the scene after one of the Turkey oaks had been cut down.
He managed to halt work temporarily on felling the second oak after he went past the barriers and ‘hugged’ the tree, but it was eventually felled at Mr Quérée was persuaded to walk away.
The decision to cut the trees down was taken after the Environment Department declared the situation ‘extremely serious’ and said that the creatures posed a threat to public health.
Both trees were infested with oak processionary moth larvae, which can cause intensely itchy or painful skin rashes if touched. The caterpillars feed on the foliage of many species of oaks.
