Photos: Which Famous Buildings Have Been Affected by Willows? The Slaughter of Trees Listed in the Red Book Has Occurred Before

Activist Edward Hayrumyan has shared photographs on his Facebook page, writing: "Since the 'good' times of the previous regime, various so-called 'best' property owners have barbarically destroyed trees that obstruct their properties. There are many examples of this, including the entrances to SAS, the 'Gold Market', Megamall, Slavmed Clinic, and others. Unfortunately, this tradition has not faded away, and as we saw yesterday, if not the day before, in the case of Mashtots Avenue, property owners can obtain legal documents from the Yerevan municipality for the destruction of trees listed in the Red Book.

In these photographs, you can see the Rossi Mall, where, during construction, one of the three willows in front has 'disappeared', the second has been so distorted that it's become deformed, and the third one is 'Chupa Chups' (the photo is in the comments). I am intentionally posting these photographs to draw everyone's attention to these trees and to prevent their 'undetected disappearance' in the future.

In general, the most valuable trees existing in Yerevan are willows (the same goes for poplars, and plane trees), and most of the oldest and most functionally significant trees in Yerevan are also willows. Of course, saying a willow is 100 years old is a bit comical since willows can live up to 3000 years. The 2000-year-old poplar tree in Artsakh is of the same species. Willows can reach heights of up to 50 meters and have trunk diameters of 2-3 meters.

Willows are listed in the Red Book in Armenia, and cutting them down should incur criminal liability. Moreover, in the Bible, the willow is considered the tree of God.