We report on the observation of a strong orbital anisotropy in the orthorhombic phase of SnO2 thin films and its modification by swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation. Structural investigations along with the Raman spectroscopy show a significant distortion of the SnO6 octahedra after SHI irradiation. The X-ray absorption and X-ray linear dichroism (XLD) experiments provide the direct evidences of change in orbital anisotropy/electronic structure due to orbital reconstruction in the SnO2 lattice after irradiation. The XLD measurements at the O K edge confirm the deterioration in the SnO6 octahedra due to controlled structural disorder induced by SHI irradiation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.