The tree which was photographed for the back cover of U2‘s album The Joshua Tree has been vandalised.

The tree, which grows in California’s Mojave Desert, was photographed by Anton Corbijn for the album cover.

Consequence Of Sound report that one of the tree’s limbs has recently been chopped off.

There is also a photograph online showing the damage done to the tree.

Meanwhile, a user on a U2 message board wrote, “I’ve been visiting U2’s Joshua Tree in the California desert for nearly 20 years now; the Mojave is my home. This past Sunday, I made my proverbial yearly hike out to the Tree with my dog to reminisce only to find that some hack and I do mean hack, decided it was a bright idea to take a hacksaw to one of the Tree’s limbs – evidently to remove an inch thick cross section as a souvenir.”

Adding: “Are you kidding me? I won’t even elaborate as to how pathetic this is. Let’s just say It was a good thing I didn’t happen upon this ignorant low-life degenerate in his course of action. Yes, I wrote “his” …there’s no way a woman would have done this. It’s hard to imagine that someone would be so motivated, to travel that far into the desert, to commit this selfish deed.”

“In the late 1990s the tree fell over due to a meandering stream that, by bad luck, developed just under the roots and caused it to weaken and fall. My cynical belief is that some jack-ass climbed the tree and while saying “take my picture dude” the additional weight keeled the tree over.”

“In short, leave the damn Tree alone, so that future fans can enjoy it. Left alone, the Tree will be there for many, many decades to come.”