VICTORIA Police have confirmed they are no longer treating an alleged arson attack of a 700-year-old redgum earlier this month as suspicious.
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Country Fire Authority crews attended a fire at the heritage-listed tree, about five kilometres from Talbot on Pollocks Road, late on August 5.
Central Goldfields Crime Investigation Unit detectives investigated the fire and believe the Aboriginal Maternity Tree caught fire after a woman left a candle at the tree that evening.
Police interviewed the woman and determined the fire to be accidental.
They will not take any further action.
The Shelter Tree, or Maternity Tree, has a 15-metre girth and its hollowed out centre was used as a shelter by the Dja Dja Wurrung clan, particularly by Dja Dja Wurrung women giving birth, according to Visit Talbot.
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