A Riga forestry agency said on Wednesday a state body had invited residents to cut their trees from forests located 50 km (30 miles) or more outside the capital, but people had instead descended on protected areas around the city. 
The authority was quoted by news agency LETA as saying that rangers in charge of forests around Riga had been struggling to keep people away to protect the few fir trees that grow around there.
"The authority's staff are being driven to despair," said a spokeswoman. (Reporting by Patrick Lannin; editing by Sami Aboudi)