Vandalised historic tree to get the chop

The botanical butchers have won and Melbourne's historic Separation Tree faces the chop.

The 400-year-old river red gum's health has been in decline for years following two ringbarking attacks.

Vandals removed a deep strip of bark in 2010, and hacked away the remaining 10 per cent in 2013.

Royal Botanic Gardens staff used a raft of horticultural techniques to try to save it, but its roots are now dead.

The Separation Tree was where people gathered on November 15, 1850, to celebrate news that Victoria was to become a separate colony from NSW.

Gardens staff will begin cutting branches off the tree on Monday and leave part of the trunk as a shrine to Victoria's past.

"Part of the tree can remain in perpetuity, as a memorial to both the tree itself and to the historical events that have taken place beneath its canopy over 400 years," Royal Botanic Gardens Director Tim Entwisle said.