Lake Macquarie City Council has warned a dangerous social media stunt could result in serious injury or death after various tall trees were "coned".
"Coning" involves climbing tall trees and placing plastic orange witch's hat cones on the top branch and recording it for social media.
The TikTok page Lake Mac Coner illustrates the exploits of scaling various Norfolk pines and other tall trees at Swansea, Caves Beach, Pelican, and Blacksmiths.
Several videos were filmed from the top branches of the tree at night.
A coned tree was also found at Speers Point Park.
The page has almost 1700 followers, and some videos have been viewed more than 30,000 times.
The council has spent more than $5000 on site inspections, assessment of damage to the trees and contractor removal of cones and damaged branches.
The council's manager of city works, Barry McDaid, said cones had also been removed from traffic lights, but there is no evidence recorded on the Lake Mac Coner TikTok page.
"These pranksters are becoming more daring in terms of the height of the trees they're climbing and the unsteady branches they're traversing to reach the top," Mr McDaid said.
"We're talking trees up to 25 metres in height. As they say, it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, and in this case, it could be a serious injury or even death."
Tree coning is nothing new. In 2012 a spate of tree coning occurred on Norfolk pines at Kaikoura on the South Island of New Zealand.
Mr McDaid said the risky climbs were also potentially causing damage to trees.
"They're also causing damage to the branches when climbing the trees, leaving behind 'hangers' - partly broken limbs that might later detach and create a hazard for anyone below," he said.
"These require additional time and resources to remove, and the cones themselves present a significant danger if they fall onto someone or something below."
A spokesperson for NSW Police said there had been no reports made regarding incidents of coning.
