Camelback Christmas: A group of hikers receives permission to replace a tree cut by vandals.

Shortly after hikers and city officials solved the mystery of why a 15foot Christmas tree was removed from the summit of Camelback Mountain less than 24 hours after it was placed there, the leader of the group responsible for the tree says they will put another one on the mountain and believe they will be allowed to keep it there.

A group of about 50 hikers carried the $600 Christmas tree up the trail on the day after Thanksgiving. Someone cut it in half and stole the top and park rangers removed the bottom half, cutting short an annual tradition beloved by many.

The organizers of the tree hike initially thought park rangers deceptively allowed them to spend four hours lugging the tree up the mountain only to remove it the next day, so they started a Change.org petition asking Phoenix to allow a tree on top of Camelback Mountain.

The petition received more than 1,200 signatures in two days.

Park rangers, city officials and hike organizers pieced together information that someone else chopped up and stole part of the tree, and rangers only removed the leftover part of the evergreen.

Hike organizers updated the petition Tuesday night with news that the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department told them they could put a replacement tree at the summit by Saturday morning, and promised not to remove it.

“In the event that the Grinch tries to ruin everyone’s holiday by vandalizing the new tree, don’t worry, we will carry up another replacement — as many times as we must!” the update said.

Joel Borch, who helped start the tradition four years ago, and John Cressey, also known as Camelback Santa, said they spoke on the phone Wednesday afternoon with the department’s director, Inger Erickson.

Parks and Recreation Department spokesman Gregg Bach confirmed the agreement.

“In the spirit of the holiday season, we’ve come to an agreement to temporarily allow a non-decorated natural tree on Camelback Mountain through January 1, 2017,” he said in an email.

“Members of that group will remove decorations and monitor the site for debris on a daily basis, with help from park ranger staff. The Phoenix Parks and Recreation Board will work to find a permanent solution for future years and welcomes public input.”

Cressey said, “Everybody in the community who’s been involved with this deserves credit for voicing their support of this unique Arizona tradition.”

The organizers ask that hikers help them keep the trail clean by picking up any trash.

Cressey said he will dress up as Santa and hike to the summit every weekend in December as well as Dec. 21 through Christmas Day to hand out candy canes and take photos with people by the tree from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., weather permitting.