A famous willow tree that symbolises hope and endurance has been attacked with a saw in the New Zealand tourist town of Wanaka.

The crooked willow tree that stands in a lake has been photographed hundreds of thousands of times by sightseers and is a major tourist attraction for the South Island region.

But on Wednesday it emerged that someone had lopped off a number of branches using a saw or chainsaw, including one branch that dips into the water. .

Councillor Quentin Smith said the tree was “iconic” and so far there were no leads on who was responsible.

The incident comes at a difficult time for the local community, which was experiencing “extreme uncertainty” in the face of coronavirus impacting visitor numbers, he said.

“It is disappointing that someone has chosen to vandalise it for whatever reasons,” Smith said.

“We just don’t know what would have driven someone to do this, and at this time we have no clue who is responsible.”

The Queenstown Lakes District Council’s arborist was scheduled to inspect the damaged tree on Thursday, and has advised the community that it should survive.

Wanaka photographer Luisa Apanui told local media the incident was perplexing and sad.

“Everyone is pretty devastated. The tree even survived the floods in December and it’s so sad to see someone did this on purpose,” Apanui said.

“Some people hate the tree because it attracts so much attention but most local people love it, especially photographers.”

Wanaka community board member Chris Hadfield called the damage “a completely senseless act”.

As the tree has grown in popularity amateur and professional photographers alike have become increasingly creative in their attempts to capture an original image of the willow, which is framed by the waters of Lake Wanaka and the Southern Alps in the background.

On Instagram visitors have posed naked beside it, meditated in its shade and had their wedding photographs taken in front of it.

Tim Errington, Queenstown Lakes District Council’s arborist told the Guardian the tree’s health had begun to suffer in recent years as tourists routinely posed in the tree and broke its thin branches.

Some had even set up slack lines between bigger trees on the shore to the willow and walked across.

“The tree isn’t very healthy, it hasn’t grown much. Partly because of the number of people who climb on it, and partly because it is drawing few nutrients from the lake bed, as it is usually submerged in water.”

Errington said he found it “bizarre” that the tree was so popular. Less than a hundred metres away in Wanaka station park, there are mature trees planted by the early settlers that are “among the most wonderful and fabulous trees in the district”, he said, yet no one visits them.

Local historians believe the tree formed out of an old willow fence post, which was built by Wanaka sheep station as part of efforts to keep stock out of the village.

Landscape photographer Gilbert van Reenen has lived in Wanaka for 35 years and says social media “created the tree”.

“I have lived here for decades and everyone ignored the tree until a few years ago, when it became something on tourists buckets lists to photograph, there are 40 cars there today,” he said.

“It displays a real lack of imagination and a shallow approach to nature. Aesthetically speaking, the tree is nothing special at all, and I think the obsession with it has become rather unhealthy. I like people to go and find their own wonderful places to photograph, and not just slavishly follow the guidebook.”