BERLIN (AP) — German police say they have evicted environmental protesters from the last treehouse in a forest due to be cleared for coal mining.

The German news agency dpa reported Tuesday that utility company RWE plans to dig a trench around Hambach Forest, near the western city of Aachen, to prevent protesters from entering again.

The company has said it will wait until a court ruling Oct. 14 before proceeding with cutting down the ancient woodland to expand its nearby lignite strip mine.

Environmentalists had built some 80 tree houses in the forest in an effort to prevent it from being cleared.

Last month, a 27-year-old man fell to his death from a rope bridge in the forest in what authorities said appeared to be an accident.