Multiple decks, staircases and balconies wrap around an oak tree in a tree house created by Horace Burgess in Crossville.

CROSSVILLE, Tenn. - A huge treehouse built by a Crossville minister has been closed by the state Fire Marshal's Office.

The popular attraction built by Horace Burgess of Crossville as a ministry became in Internet sensation as the Minister's Treehouse.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported a gate to the parking lot was padlocked by state officials on Aug. 30.

Burgess said he received a certified letter last week ordering him to close the treehouse to the public as a matter of safety. State officials did not return a call to the newspaper when a reporter sough comment.

Burgess said about 1,000 people per week visited his 100-foot-tall treehouse.