The hundred year old “San Jacinto Ficus” that was brutally cut down two years ago has been pronounced officially dead by city council. I took the photo above earlier this month, concerned at how badly it had deteriorated from even a year ago. When it was first “rescued” in 2022 after public outcry we were told that city council would take over responsibility of its care and maintenance from the church, which seemed optimistic at the time. But now it seems this was always the outcome they wanted as the tree was left to wither and slowly die over these past two years. No words.

the ficus in 2009 (taken on my very old camera),
it was even bigger than this in 2022