Charcoal repeatedly dumped on a 15-foot monkeypod tree at Ala Moana Beach Park burned through its trunk, leading city crews to cut it down yesterday as a safety precaution.

"The tree is so badly burned that you can actually look at the cavity that has been created at the base of the trunk and see all the way through it," said Bob Loy, director of environmental programs for the Outdoor Circle. "It has a sign 5 feet from it saying don't dump charcoal and a sign on the tree itself that says don't do that, but people do it anyway."

City spokesman Bill Brennan said no other tree is scheduled to be cut down because of charcoal damage, but it is a problem.

Ala Moana Beach Park is often packed on weekends with hundreds of campers and picnickers, many with cooking grills. The city has created areas for people to safely dump hot coals, but many simply throw them under the trees in the park.

"It's just ignorance, really, and not recognizing the damage they can do," Loy said. "You can go look at almost any big tree in any park and see on the leeward side of it there is charcoal."

Mayor Mufi Hannemann and the Outdoor Circle, a nonprofit organization formed to protect and preserve Hawai'i's scenic environment, are going to meet next month to discuss developing an educational campaign about not dumping hot coals on living trees, Brennan said.

The tree cut down yesterday was 20 to 30 years old and had a canopy about 20 feet in diameter supplying shade to people in the Magic Island section of the park.

"I don't think they are intentionally killing the trees," Loy said. "This kind of widespread thing calls for education. It calls for some regulation changes and some capital money for more coal dumping pits."

Brennan said there are no immediate plans to replace the tree.

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.