Why shouldn't there be an abandoned helicopter at the Aburi Botanical Gardens?

I mean, the gardens also have a sampling of important tree crops in Ghana, including cocoa; several trees planted to commemorate visits by foreign and domestic important people; two cafes; a former colonial-era hotel; a wonderful totem-pole-like carved tree; and an exquisite row of towering coconut palms.

It's a fascinating thing. But there is no sign explaining why it's there, how long it's been there, and why it's apparently never moved from its final resting spot.

Ok, let me come clean: I didn't stop an ask anyone. Denise, a Ghana veteran, didn't know either.

So I did what any self-respecting first-time traveler would do. I asked Google.

I haven't gotten a good answer yet. I went through several pages of the 6,400-plus pages Google says contain "Aburi Botanical Gardens helicopter" and found many mentions. People have put up pictures on tripadvisor, on Flickr, and videos on You Tube. Travel pieces in Ghana media have mentioned it but with, so far as I've found, no explanation as to why it's there.

Perhaps the most useful result was a travelogue blog entry on the site of the European Palm Society made, evidently, by a helicopter enthusiast. It identifies the machine as a Westland Whirlwind helicopter. Such craft were first built in the 1950s in Britain and, I surmise, were sold or shared with other countries' militaries, though it's important to note that Ghana was then a British colony.

Did a British official fly to Aburi in the helicopter, which then broke down and was left when Ghana gained independence in 1957? Did the British figure why bother flying it out? Or did the contingent figure they'd found paradise and never wanted to leave?

Was the helicopter used in one of Ghana's military coups? But why would coup-ists feel the need to land in the botanical gardens? Were they just getting of of Accra for the weekend like everybody else? Then the coup ended and they figured they'd just leave it. It was too much trouble to refuel and fly out. They could just drive home anyway, or take a tro tro, a drop, whatever. Or what I'd do: Just stay in Aburi.

I'm going with that.

But we'd welcome any better ideas -- and the real story -- in comments.