The tree in Sandy Hook center that is decorated for Christmas annually was mistakenly cut down on February 1 due to a miscommunication between the town and the Newtown Public Works department. The tree had served as the Sandy Hook Christmas tree since 2001, bringing in town residents to celebrate the holiday spirit.
“It was not our decision to remove the tree, We had given them permission to be there, to work there on what we thought was a different tree. The tree was removed by the Town as a result of a misunderstanding,” NFA Executive Director Trent McCann said.
The town sent out a Public Works crew to remove a small, dead sapling that was located between the Sandy Hook Christmas tree and 4 Washington Avenue. The Newtown Forest Association, or the NFA, owned the land belonging to both the dead sapling and Sandy Hook Christmas tree.
The NFA had given permission to the town to remove the dead sapling, but in the process of sending the public works crew out, there was a miscommunication that led them to believe that they were cutting down the Christmas tree.
“It is truly devastating, I mean I moved to Sandy Hook when I was in like 3rd grade, and every year since then we have gone and seen the tree lighting. It had been a tradition at this point in my family and probably many others. I figured the news before my Mom did and she was even more upset then I was. Hopefully they replace it soon,” NHS junior Cole Sgagliardich said.
After the removal, the town came out and apologized for the miscommunication, and stated that they will plant a new tree as compensation.
“We’re going to work with the forest association and we’re going to put up a nice new tree,” Public Works Director Anthony Capozziello said.
It was later stated that they will also cover the expenses for the tree.
“It’s nice of the town to reimburse the tree land owner, but I still don’t understand how you can get a tiny dying sapling and a giant Christmas tree confused. It seems to me that they wanted to remove the tree, and used this as an excuse. At least they are claiming they will put up a nice new one though,” NHS sophomore Thomas Selner said.
Despite the Christmas tree removal being accidental, the town still claims that even though the tree was still alive, it was in poor condition, as it was suffering from diseases. It also had outgrown its space, making it difficult to maintain.
“it wasn’t completely dead…it was getting closer to the power lines and it was at the point where we couldn’t put any lights on it anymore,” Capozziello said.