Never Forgotten.
Ever since 1947, Norway has donated a Christmas tree to Britain as a symbol of gratitude for assistance to the Norwegian people, at home and abroad, during WWII. King Håkon VII spent 5 years in London and many exiled Norwegians came to Britain during the Nazi occupation of Norway. Britain not only provided a home for thousands of Norwegians, but also sent Norwegian radio broadcasts in Norwegian those in Norway who still had radios. These broadcasts were a vital help to the Norwegian underground.
I was keeping this story to be a nice warm cuddly story for nearer the day - but then as I was stealing researching the story at Anglo Trees the final paragraph caught my eye and the old Tourettes nearly broke out again...
Resistance to the tradition has come from Europeans who regard it as a violation of import restrictions. Environmental demonstrations have been organized around it, people have been chained to it, and some people have tried to cut it down.