If they need to cut it for a roundabout fine, but don’t punish a tree for something in the middle of the last century that the tree did not know about?
Your clear thinking deserves applause.
If the symbolism concerns the good mayor, she can arrange with the local Catholic church to exorcise it, bless it, and re-dedicate it to the deserving cause of their choice.
The tree is innocent. If they cut it down, it will simply go down as the latest innocent victim of Nazism.