Maybe I've just seen too many of those never crop squabbles elsewhere on LuLa :-)
Well,
I am not religious about it... on the contrary.
However, in this case, cropping would cut into what appears to be a part of that log, and which provides a natural lead-in. Just as well, if the only reason for cropping is to get rid of the hole, there are other, less radical solutions (e.g., darkening).