The City of Calgary has the ordered the parents of two young girls to cut down a swing they hung from a tree branch outside their home.

An anonymous tipster alerted city officials about the illegal source of old fashioned summer fun. Calgary has a bylaw forbidding the attachment of anything to a public tree.

“The purpose for this bylaw is to protect the tree. It says you are not allowed to put a swing in a tree, or attach anything to a tree, or tie your dog to a tree,” said Jeannette Wheeler, urban forestry lead with the City of Calgary.

“I like doing stuff for the environment, and helping other people. It just makes me feel happy,” said 8-year-old Gracie McMillan. She and her older sister Reilly convinced their parents to build the swing for the neighbourhood. They say there aren’t any good ones near their home.

The girls were inspired by nearby miniature free book boxes, known as “Little Free Libraries,” where neighbours share reading material.

Gracie and Reilly have one more day to enjoy their gift to the neighbourhood. Their mother promised the city official who alerted them of the infraction that she would remove it by the weekend.

The sisters’ pleas to save the swing could sway the adults in the end. Gian-Carlo Carra, councillor for Calgary’s ninth ward, says he will be having a back and forth with his colleagues to find out if the enforcement of the bylaw was warranted.

“I will be inquiring with (the) administration to see if we are being overly harsh in our protection of the tree, or if it's just prudent given the species of tree, or the weight of the swing, or anything else like that,” he said.

With files from CTV Calgary