Haifa, Israel, Dec 14 : Residents of the northern Israeli city of Haifa may have to wait for trees to grow back after thousands were burnt in Israel's worst and deadliest forest fire.
But until then, another kind of tree has gone up in the centre of the city that is sure to put smiles on people's faces.
A local industrial designer, with the help of citizens who recycle their trash, has built a Christmas tree made of more than 5,000 plastic bottles.
Haifa is a mixed Jewish-Arab city with many Christian residents. The artist, Hadas Itzcovitch, was chosen by the municipality from a group of other artists who submitted entries for the project.
She spent a month building the tree with her family.They collected some 6,000 bottles from around the city, rejecting 1,000 because they wanted the tree to be advertisement-free.Bottle caps were then used to fasten the tree together. AP
