It seems that U2 fans will go to any length for a souvenir; the tree that featured in the inlay artwork of their iconic 1987 album 'The Joshua Tree' has been vandalised.

One of the tree's limbs has been hacked off, as website Consequence of Sound reports after spotting a post on a U2 fan forum.

The post read:

“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. Are you kidding me?”

A picture of the Mojave Desert tree, which collapsed in 2000 but has been a pilgrimage site for fans of the Dublin band for years, accompanied the post:

 

No sign of it on eBay as of yet, but that's pretty brazen by anybody's standards...