'Far from happy about it': WA Environment Minister orders report into 'absolute tragedy' after 800-year-old tree accidentally cut down

Western Australia's Environment Minister has described his shock after an 800-year-old tree in the state's south-west was cut down to a stump.

The state government hired a contractor to trim the beloved tree's branches before the mistake was made.

"It's an absolute tragedy that it has been removed," Reece Whitby said of the peppermint tree in the Ferguson Valley.

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"I'm not happy about it. Far from happy about it in fact, and I've asked for a full report to work out what happened here."

Environmentalists are calling for those responsible to face criminal charges.

"They arrest people for defending trees, it's time people got arrested for destroying trees," former Greens leader Bob Brown told 9News.

The eucalypt sacred to Noongar people is often referred to as the Bob Brown tree, named after the former Greens leader who helped locals fight to save it from logging in 1999.

The centuries-old natural wonder was discovered razed to the ground last week by tour guide Peter Murphy when he arrived to show it to overseas tourists.

He told a local radio station the situation left him both "highly embarrassed" and "devastated".

"I've sat there with Noongar people over the years and, you know, listened to them speak to the tree," Murphy told 6PR Perth.

The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has blamed the axing on a communication breakdown.