Peter Hoffman was drunk and probably a bit sweaty from his impromptu workout when police arrived in the street about 7.15pm to see him and a mate hacking away at the 10m-plus tree with a pair of small axes.

Hoffman immediately divulged the reason behind the hatchet job: his son’s drone was stuck in the tree and he wanted it back.

Police told the two men to drop the axes and asked for their details. They complied with the request, but the encounter did not end there.

“Listen, no offence, but once you go I’ll be chopping down this tree,” Hoffman told the officers bluntly. “I’ve gotta get the drone down.”

Police informed Hoffman he would be committing an offence if he did fell the tree, but the 39-year-old would not be persuaded to leave.

“No offence but I don’t care. Give me a ticket and my axe and leave,” he said.

Officers told Hoffman to leave the axe where it was, eliciting an angry retort.

“F—k me, just f—k off you dogs. I’ll get another axe….f—king hero cops. If you c—ts didn’t have a badge on I’d flog ya,” he snarled.

The officers told Hoffman he was under arrest for intimidation, prompting him to run into unit block 16 where he turned and faced police.

Believing things were about to escalate further, the officers grabbed hold of Hoffman and handcuffed him.

Police said during the arrest, Hoffman’s forehead struck the brick wall in the hallway, leaving him with a gash on his head.

He was put into a police paddy wagon and taken to Wollongong Police Station where he was charged with offensive language, intimidation and unlawfully removing a plant from a public place.

He pleaded guilty to the charges in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday.

Court documents said the tree had sustained “significant damage” at its trunk and was at risk of falling, forcing SES personnel to permanently remove it.