An iconic and storied “Shoe Tree” in Springwater Township has been cut down.

The mighty maple tree on Crossland Road was cut down Tuesday, sending about 1.2 tonnes of shoes to the dump.

Officials with the County of Simcoe say the tree’s health was getting worse and the added weight of the shoes posed a safety hazard.

Ginger Tsang, a librarian for the Elmvale Library told CTV News in 2015, the Shoe Tree was started 10 years ago by a family from Wasaga Beach. Every time they had someone come and visit, they would tell them to throw shoes onto the tree.

However, there’s another theory about how the tree got its roots.

“Someone had life-saving surgery. This was another person in Wasaga Beach, and she said a local police officer had told her to put shoes in the tree because it's an indication of new life,” Tsang said.

Officials say cutting down the tree was the only appropriate option.