R.I.P. National Christmas Tree

50mph winds in DC took their toll across the region today, including bringing down the National Christmas Tree...


From the WaPo...

Line said the tree was a Colorado blue spruce from York, Pa., that was planted on the Ellipse in 1978. It was 46 years old and almost 42 feet tall at the time it was felled. But there would be little time for mourning. The tree was scheduled to be mulched Saturday afternoon.

"I would say we're sad, but we knew this would happen," Line said, noting that the previous two National Christmas Trees were also felled by winds. "Unlike in the forest, this tree was fully exposed [to the elements]. There was nothing to protect it."

Rather than mulching the tree they should have taken a page from the White House and made jewelry out of it.