“There was a breach of the law by an individual, they felled trees when they were not allowed to do so, and the municipality will take legal action to punish them,” said the mayor.

The matter was brought up at the executive meeting by the opposition, with CDU councillor Vítor Rodrigues, describing the situation as a “Wild West in the 21st century”.

“This is unacceptable from the point of view of civility,” stressed Vítor Rodrigues, who said that the legal process “is the least that can be done” and argued that those who broke the law should be forced to restore the original situation.

The Sete Fontes aqueduct is located on the site, which has been classified as a national monument since 2021.

The Councillor for the Environment, Altino Bessa, said that the Council was “surprised” on Wednesday by a report that a logger was carrying out an “indiscriminate felling” of trees and shrubs on a plot of land in Sete Fontes.

This felling was not only illegal, as it violated the Sete Fontes urbanisation plan, but was also taking place at a time when the country was on red alert due to the risk of fire, and the use of machinery was therefore prohibited.

The municipal services went to the site with the PSP and the felling was suspended.

On Friday, there was a new attempt to continue the felling, but the authorities managed to prevent it.

The Councillor for Planning and Ordinance, João Rodrigues, said that the municipality had only given instructions to “clean up the area” and that there was no permit for felling trees.

“It is natural that the land is cleared, but the logger went beyond what was asked of him”, he said, stressing that the municipality “was the first to act” when it learned of the felling of trees.

According to the Council, the logger felled trees not only on a private plot of land, but also on land belonging to the municipality.