A court in Amsterdam on Tuesday ruled that the horse chestnut tree which Anne Frank wrote about in her WWII diary may not be cut down pending further research.

Amsterdam Centrum borough council had planned to cut down the tree on Wednesday. It argues that the tree is in imminent danger of falling over because it is infested with honey fungus.
However, locals and the tree foundation Booomstichting went to court, arguing that the tree was still stable. The foundation wants to carry out further research.
The judge said that the permit to cut down the tree would be withdrawn. He said he expected that all sides in the dispute would reach agreement over the future of the tree and that felling it was the last resort.
British press agency Reuters and the German tv company WDR are among the foreign media groups which were on hand to follow the tree being felled, if the court had given the go ahead.
The Anne Frank Foundation, which supports the plan to fell the tree, says it has been ‘very gratified’ by the worldwide show of concern.
Meanwhile, a nut from the tree which a neighbour has offered for sale via online auction Ebay has received a bid of nearly €7,000.