A Christmas tree lasted just 24 hours in Naples' most famous shopping arcade before someone stole it.

By Friday morning, only a few branches, some baubles and a stump remained of the tree installed the day before in the Galleria Umberto I. 

The thieves had removed the rest of the metres-high tree, decorations and all. Photos show a clean cut, suggested that the culprits may have been equipped with a chainsaw.

The tree had been donated to the glass-roofed arcade by the Gran Caffè Gambrinus, one of Naples' oldest establishments, just the day before.

It's not the first time that the Galleria Umberto has had its Christmas tree stolen, but this is believed to be a record for the shortest time a tree has lasted, according to Ansa.