Trees felled in quest to rebuild spire of fire-ravaged Notre Dame

The 93-metre-high spire, made of wood and clad in lead, was designed by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc in 1859.

The fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (Gareth Fuller/PA)

In a former royal forest in France, four 200-year-old oaks are being felled for wood to reconstruct Notre Dame cathedral’s fallen spire.

Last July, French president Emmanuel Macron ended speculation over the reconstruction plans, announcing that the spire of the Paris monument would be rebuilt exactly as it was before the April 2019 blaze that severely damaged the cathedral.