Cemetery seeks €300,000 in online appeal after fallen tree leads to its closure.

Rome's Non-Catholic Cemetery has launched an online fundraiser to seek financial assistance after a large pine tree fell inside its walls, damaging several graves.

The landmark graveyard is currently closed for safety reasons after the enormous pine fell during the night between 3 and 4 November. Nobody was injured.

The GoFundMe appeal is seeking to raise €300,000 to help with the cost of removing the fallen pine, restoring the tombs and carrying out geological surveys on the hallowed site.

The cemetery's director Yvonne A. Mazurek, who launched the fundraiser on Wednesday, said the tree in question had been deemed healthy and safe following tensile tests six months ago, and that experts are currently investigating the cause of its collapse.

Trees are considered an "integral and precious part of the cemetery", the appeal says, and are subject to annual checks, pruning and treatments to tackle parasites.

Located in the shadow of the Pyramid of Cestius in Testaccio district, the secluded cemetery hosts the graves of numerous illustrious figures, notably the English Romantic poets Keats and Shelley.

Also known as the Protestant Cemetery, the graveyard has been in continuous use for more than 300 years and is entirely privately managed.

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The unexpected collapse of the tree and its associated costs have put the cemetery's finances under serious pressure, prompting the appeal for help from the public.

The work required is extensive and complex - involving restorers, geologists, historians, photographers and tree experts - and it is difficult to estimate when the cemetery will be able to reopen.

"All our efforts are aimed at reopening this beloved place in the shortest time possible" - Mazurek said in the fundraising appeal - "trying to do so in a way that guarantees the best future for both the urban forest and the monuments that it houses and surrounds."