Fearing damage, cemetery cuts down 250-year-old maple tree

DUNBARTON, N.H. (AP) - A maple tree that stood for 250 years in a New Hampshire cemetery has been taken down.

The Concord Monitor reports (https://bit.ly/1IG416B ) that the Dunbarton town cemetery decided to cut down the tree a day before Christmas out of concern for its age and the possibility that branches could fall and damage gravestones.

Selectman and cemetery board Chairman Tom Groleau says a tree specialist determined years ago that the tree was slowly dying. He said the trustees didn’t feel a public notice about the tree cutting was necessary and that the decision was documented publicly.

Some residents hope to use some of the wood to make a table in remembrance of the tree while others hope to donate wood to families in need of wood for heating.

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Information from: Concord Monitor, https://www.cmonitor.com