Mysterious Place

There was a place called Gotenyama behind the elementary school. It became the morning marathon course for the school, so students and teachers often went there. There was a tree stump on the gentle slope of the mountain visible from the classroom window. Because of its location – the middle of Gotenyama, on the edge of the mountain, visible from the classroom – there were various rumors. 'There's treasure at the base of the stump,' or 'A body is buried there,' things that sound like they belong in the 'Seven Mysteries of the Elementary School.' At some point, for some reason, an area of about 1.5M x 1M in front of the stump became bare soil. Even though weeds were growing reasonably well around it, it was just a rectangle of exposed earth. And it stayed that way for nearly a year. There were even things like discarded cups left there, perhaps as a prank. Someone must have been maintaining it, but... What was the intention behind keeping just that one spot clean?