Moyne Shire Council will remove 15 of the heritage-listed Monterey cypress trees after large branches fell onto the Hamilton Highway in the past month.

Councillor Jill Parker, a Mortlake resident, said the trees were a serious hazard and urgently needed removal to ensure the safety of passing motorists.

"Heritage Victoria has provided council a permit exemption to remove 15 trees from the Mortlake Avenue of Honour," Cr Parker said.

"These same trees were identified as being in the poorest condition a number of years ago, as part of council's investigation into eventual replacement species."

She said the council would store memorial plaques from the felled trees until replacement trees could display them.

The council has worked towards replacing all 191 in the avenue since 2015, but discussions with community and Heritage Victoria over the replacement species have prolonged those plans.

"While council continues to work with Heritage Victoria to pursue options to replace the trees, the removal of these 15 trees is necessary for safety reasons," Cr Parker said.

Some south-west residents took to social media on Tuesday to call for the council to allow artists to carve the tree stumps for public display.

But Cr Parker said the 15 trees were in such poor condition it was unlikely the wood or stumps would be useful. "I don't think they would be solid enough to even do that," she said.

The council will likely remove the 15 trees within the next month. There may be minor disruptions to traffic during the week-long works.

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Meanwhile, Cr Parker said it would be likely the avenue could be replaced in stages once Heritage Victoria approved a new species.

"How it's done to create the least disruption and most harmony will be something for council to work out."

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