Japanese authorities have chopped down more than 100,000 tulips to stop admirers gathering and spreading coronavirus.
Typically, thousands of the bright flowers blanket fields in the city of Sakura, east of Tokyo, drawing tourists eager to glimpse them in full bloom.
But as the country embraces social distancing measures to wrestle the epidemic, officials decided to mow the beds so they would no longer be an attraction.
They also pulled the plug on the annual tulip festival at the gardens of Sakura Furusato Hiroba.
Just a few weeks ago, thousands of the bright flowers blanketed fields in the city of Sakura, east of Tokyo, drawing locals eager to glimpse them in full bloom (left), but now they have been mowed down (right)
More than 100,000 tulips have been razed in Sakura Furusato Square to keep tourists away to encourage social distancing
Before: The rows of pink and red which typically carpet the 7,000-square metre gardens have vanished, and in their place are dark green stalks
Afer: Parts of the fields even appear to have become mud-baths, with all nature razed to the ground
Sakiho Kusano, a city tourism official, said: ‘Many visitors came on the weekend when the flowers were in full bloom.
‘It became a mass gathering so we had no choice but to make the decision to cut the flowers.’
The rows of pink and red which once typically carpet the 7,000-square metre gardens have vanished, and in their place are dark green stalks.
A few roses which were missed poke up among the stalks, but most have been donated to local kindergartens.
Parts of the fields even appear to have become mud-baths, with all nature razed to the ground.
Despite the efforts of officials to curb person-to-person contact, a smattering of tourists are still visiting the Sakura flowerbeds.
A woman takes a photograph of the gutted gardens as a man cycles past. Usually, scores of tourists flock to the flowerbeds to marvel at the tulips
Green tulip stalks sprout up from the ground after the gardens were rid of their bright pink and red colour following the cut
Scores of tourists usually flock to the fields to walk among the impressive flowers, which lay beneath the shadow of the windmill
The sea of pink and red which once carpeted the 7,000-square metre gardens (pictured) has vanished, and in its place are the dark green stalks
A lone stalk stands in a field in the Sakura Furusato Square after over 100,000 tulips were cut off to avoid people visiting
Visitor Misako Yonekubo, 77, went to the now gloomy gardens on Wednesday and said: ‘It’s very, very, very unfortunate. My mood sank when I saw this.’
Japan has so far managed to stem the tied of infections with only 11,512 confirmed cases and 281 deaths.
It became a focal point early on in the pandemic when the virus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokahama.
The country is now tackling another outbreak after 33 more crew members tested positive aboard the Costa Atlantica in Nagasaki, after one sailor fell ill on Tuesday.
Meanwhile eight babies and toddlers at a Tokyo care centre have tested positive for the coronavirus after a staff member contracted the disease.
Tokyo Saiseikai Central Hospital, which operates the facility, said the affected children had been hospitalised, while another 21 tested negative and were under observation.
The facility is for orphans or children separated from their parents because of possible abuse or neglect.
The occasional rose poked up among the stalks where the plants have been hacked, and a family visits the new-look gardens
A worker dismantles a pathway in a field in the Sakura Furusato Square, which is usually an attraction that draws tourists
Despite the efforts of officials to curb person-to-person contact, a smattering of tourists are still visiting the Sakura flowerbeds
The 100,000 tulips which have been cut were donated to local kindergartens
Men wearing masks sit at a bench near uncut tulips, which will be chopped for to discourage gatherings, even though Japan has so far managed to stem the tied of infections