SASKATOON -- A case of Dutch elm disease has been found in a Saskatoon tree — the city's first since 2015.

An elm sample provided to the provincial lab by City of Saskatoon staff tested positive, according to a news release.

As a result of the positive test, crews will remove the infected tree located in the Montgomery neighbourhood, the city said in the release.

Inspectors will also search for stored firewood in yards in the neighbourhood along with Fairhaven, Meadowgreen and the South Industrial area.

“This discovery of Dutch elm disease demonstrates that our screening procedures and inspection program works,” city parks director Darren Crilly said in the release.

“We have had success in the past with our response plan and are now taking the same aggressive action to stop it from spreading to other neighbourhoods."

Dutch elm is caused by a fungus spread by tiny elm bark beetles that breed under the bark of dead or dying elm wood, according to the province.

“The disease was introduced into North America in the 1930s, and has wiped out millions of elms across Canada and the United States. Dutch elm disease has been present in Saskatchewan since the 1980s," city entomologist Jeff Boone said in the release.

Saskatoon has not had a tree test positive for the disease since the summer of 2015, Boone said.