Officers were alerted to the drama on Tuesday morning but when they arrived onthe scene the man refused to speak to them.
He then threw an apple, branches and a pine cone at a medical team and passers-by.
Police say the incident has caused disruption to traffic in the area, close to theMacy's department store, as roads nearby were closed as a precaution.
They say they determined the man, who claimed to have a knife, was posing a danger to himself and others.
A police intervention team attempted to negotiate with the unidentified man, but firefighters later removed their ladders as the man refused their commands.
The hashtag #manintree is now attracting attention from around the world and a Seattle news station is carrying a live feed of the ongoing situation.
Officers say they believe the man is suffering from a "crisis".In a response to a Twitter question, Seattle Police Department said his "issue appears to be between the man and the tree".
He did briefly scramble towards the bottom of the tree on Tuesday evening but headed back to the top, snapping branchesalong the way.
The tree is itself something of a Seattle landmark. Once the city's annual Christmas tree, it has remained downtown since the early 1970s.
Evan Bush, a reporter at the Seattle Times, tweeted that police believe the man has built a nest of branches to sit on and that police are believed to be talking to him from a nearby window."
He's mostly been cursing, but a few minutes ago yelled: "How much taxpayer money are you wasting? It's not an emergency!"
[credit: sky news]
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