Evangelical Christian church leaders saw the tree as a fetish, a totem of traditional religions. The desecration was met with outrage in Ghanaian media, indicating that respect for tradition remains high despite the explosion in recent years of charismatic Christianity.

The men who chopped down a sacred kola tree on the road near Kumasi in Ghana in the early hours of 7 November, under instructions from their pastor, could not have cared much for history.

The tree is said to have grown from a kola nut spat on to the ground sometime around 1700 by the great priest Komfo Anokye, cofounder of the Ashanti confederacy after the Ashanti defeated a rival kingdom at the battle of Feyiase.

Komfo Anokye was a medium between the spirit world and the living, and for 300 years until its demise last week, the tree was revered, its seeds believed to contain healing powers. When a dual carriageway was constructed between Kumasi and Lake Bosomtwe, the road was diverted to spare the tree.

The tree apparently had to die because church leaders saw it as a fetish, a totem of traditional religions still (barely) practised in the area.

The desecration of the tree was met with outrage in Ghanaian media, indicating that respect for tradition remains high despite the explosion in recent years of charismatic Christianity.

There were heated exchanges in the comments section of the publication Ghana Web: "Idiot empty-headed illiterate pastors creating problems...