Part of the old drain system of Barga Vecchia has been gradually failing for some time and the pavement between the old city and the bridge to the new town was started to subside slightly as ground settled on the collapsing ancient channels.
There was talk in the city that the bridge was in difficulty and was maybe subsiding but that was quickly ruled out – the real problem was the collapsed drains but as the work progressed and the holes gradually got larger it became clearer that part of the problem was also the roots from the two trees either side of the Red Telephone Box which were invading and clogging up the broken drains.
It could well be that they are living on borrowed time and could be removed – hopefully to be replaced by trees of another type with a smaller root system.