In an ironic twist of fate, a pine tree that was planted near California’s Griffith Park Observatory to honor the late Beatle George Harrison was destroyed by… beetles.
The tree had been placed at the observatory in 2004, and the pine had grown to be close to 12-feet-tall before falling victim to the bark beetle infestation which turned out to be too much for the tree to bear, according to the Associated Press. If only the beetles had just “Let It Be.”
A replacement tree will be planted in the fall, the AP notes. Several trees at the Griffith Observatory have occasionally been destroyed by bark beetles. Harrison’s memorial tree happened to be one of them.
Harrison, who was the lead guitarist for the Beatles, died in Los Angeles in 2001 after succumbing to a long battle with lung cancer at the age of 58. He had been an avid gardener and enjoyed nature.
A plaque, which was placed along with the tree, reads: “In memory of a great humanitarian who touched the world as an artist, a musician, and a gardener.” Beneath that is written a quote from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, of whose teachings Harrison was follower: “For the forest to be green, each tree must be green.”
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