Eight pohutukawa trees lining a street in the Auckland suburb of Karaka have been felled in a weekend chainsaw attack

The issue is now in the hands of the police, who are appealing for residents to check their security footage.

Papakura Board chairman Brent Catchpole says residents are at a loss at to why someone would go and chop down trees like this.

He says clearly they must have gone there with the intention of cutting them down - because they had a chainsaw with them.

Brent Catchpole says there's every intention to have the trees replaced in the very near future.