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A shoe tree in Gosport. Photo: Chris Ison/PA
Pranksters were being held responsible today after a tree sprouted a strange fruit of shoes and boots.
Residents first spotted the dozens of pairs of shoes in the leaf-less tree in St Vincent Road, Gosport, Hants, at the weekend and have been trying to figure out how the footwear became entangled in the branches.
Jim Carter-White, of Birchmore Close, Gosport, told the Portsmouth News: "At first we thought it was plastic bags, then we got closer and we thought 'that looks odd' and we noticed it was shoes.
"Somebody has gone to a bit of effort to do it. It looks like it would have been quite hard just to throw them there, they would have to be placed."
Brenda Brooker, spokeswoman for Gosport Borough Council, said contractors had been tasked with taking the shoes down.
She said: "I know the winds have been strong of late but unless it blew down the changing rooms of the local football team and whistled up all the boots into the air, I suspect it is someone having a laugh."
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