Gernika oak sapling planted by Athletic in Bergamo uprooted after Champions League win | OneFootball

A sapling of the Gernika oak planted in Bergamo to mark Athletic Club's Champions League visit was ripped out and stolen overnight after the visitors' win, prompting anger in the city.

As reported by as.com, the young oak was set in Goisis Park on Wednesday to coincide with the match, intended as a symbol of friendship, sport and community.

Local social policies councillor Marcella Messina said Bergamo had lost twice. The first setback was on the pitch, with Atalanta beaten by Athletic in the penultimate round of the Champions League league phase.

She added that sport, and often life, can be like that, but the theft was an uncivilised and unacceptable act that strikes at the identity of Bergamo residents and Atalanta supporters.

The Gernika oak carries deep meaning. The original, in the Basque town bombed by the Nazis in the Second World War, is a symbol of Bizkaia and the Basque Country.

The Athletic Club Foundation donated the sapling as a gesture of fraternity between communities.

Source: as.com