Shakespeare's Oak

Today's the day ........................... to be mystified

I'm ashamed to show you this picture today because I thought that such a thing would never happen in my hometown of Kendal.

This was the spot where the original Shakespeare's oak was planted in 1864, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Bard's birth.  Apparently 'three bands accompanied a procession of some 5000 townsfolk to witness six-year old John Wakefield planting the tree.  A placard was then held up bearing the words 'Kendal Green', a reference to a staple Kendal cloth immortalised by Shakespeare in Henry IV, Part 1.  From that day, the Mayor said, the place where they stood would be so named ........'

And so it has been ever since.  The original tree had to felled in 2009 because it became diseased and was unsafe.  New oak trees were planted to replace it - but before long they were vandalised.  This is the third attempt - but last night, someone came and sawed this one down. 

I'm at a complete loss to understand why anyone would deliberately want to do that ...................?