Warning produced by f#: value has been copied to ensure the original is not mutated

The first definition below produces the warning in the title when compiled with f# 3.0 and the warning level set to 5. The second definition compiles cleanly. I wondered if someone could please explain just what the compiler worries I might accidentally mutate, or how would splitting the expression with a let clause help avoid that. Many thanks.

let ticks_with_warning () : int64 =
   System.DateTime.Now.Ticks 

let ticks_clean () : int64 =
   let t = System.DateTime.Now
   t.Ticks