f the reference count of $h goes to zero, it is automatically freed by perl,

But why does it go to zero where it does.

package H;
sub DESTROY { print "DESTROY\n"; }

sub new { my $class = shift; bless {}, $class; }

{
    print \$h, "\n";
    if(my $h = H->new()) {
        print \$h, "\n";
    }
    print \$h, "\n";     # <- This references the package var
                         #    and would cause a strict error.
                         #    Object is no longer accessible.

    print "why now?\n";
}                        # <- The object is only destroyed here.
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SCALAR(0x1829aac)
REF(0x1829abc)
SCALAR(0x1829aac)
why now?
DESTROY
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