The Telegraph in Calcutta India explains why coconuts are chopped down in advance of a Presidential visit

The hardy coconut has made the hallowed list of VIP-unfriendly arsenal that was so far filled with shoes, bricks, pies, tomatoes and rotten eggs.

Coconut trees outside Mani Bhavan, where Mahatma Gandhi used to stay and where Barack Obama will go this weekend, have been “disarmed” to avoid the possibility of the tough nuts falling on the head of some dignitary.

Sounds nuts to me. Additional measures include shutting down a popular kebab restaurant. Perhaps it might upset a dignitary’s digestion?