U.K. Christmas tree left half-decorated after tinsel deemed 'too heavy'

LEICESTER, England, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Residents of the English city of Leicester have criticized a city center Christmas tree that has been left unfinished as "heavy tinsel" caused stress on the branches.

Twitter user Daniel O'Donovan posted a photo of the tree which he described as "five baubles and half a tree of tinsel" and called the display "embarrassing," according to the BBC.

"The tree has always been a bit abysmal but I was expecting more this year seeing how much of a focus there has been on the city," he said.

Leicester city center director Sarah Harrison told the Leicester Mercury the decoration of the 50-foot tall tree will be completed on Tuesday but may not feature tinsel due to the weight of the decoration.

"We have not finished decorating the tree. The tinsel wasn't suitable and was causing some of the top branches to bend, so we've taken that off to start again," she said. "We've got hundreds of multicolored LED pea lights this year which are all new, so we are going to put those on first, followed by the baubles."

The city's Lord Mayor is scheduled to lead the Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Nov. 17, which Harrison said will occur on schedule whether the tree is fitted with tinsel or not.

"Either way the tree will be fully decorated and ready for the Christmas lights switch on this Thursday," she said.