The Lucknow University (LU) has lodged a complaint with the police regarding the 'theft' of a sandalwood tree from the biochemistry department.

The non-teaching staff of the biochemistry department of Lucknow University who were opening the department for research scholars on Sunday, February 25, was shocked to find that the oldest sandalwood tree in the department was missing.

The staff found that the 40-year-old tree had been chopped off from the trunk and its leaves and roots were remaining, according to an IANS report.

“The department is open even on Sunday if any scholar wants to carry out research work or complete some paper-related work. On receiving a request from scholars, I directed my non-teaching staff to open the department. When they came to open the department in the afternoon, the tree was missing,” said a senior professor from Lucknow University.

The staff informed the departmental head who, in turn, informed the chief proctor about the incident, IANS added.

LU spokesperson Durgesh Srivastava said, “We have lodged a police complaint of the theft of the sandalwood tree.”

It appears that a few people chopped off the tree in the intervening night of Saturday/Sunday from the department and took away the wood, officials said.