Flowering crab tree mistakenly cut down

CEDAR RAPIDS - A stump is all that remains of what was once a 60-foot-tall flowering crab apple tree, cut down from what appears to be a case of mistaken identity.

Lois Henderson, of 1246 40th St. Court NW, returned home today to find that the crab tree she and her husband watched grow in their front yard for two decades was hauled off by a city crew, who seemed to have mistaken it for a diseased tree.

"It was just loaded with blossoms," she said of the tree, which the couple planted when they built their home 20 years ago.

The 65-year-old said a neighbor reported a diseased ash tree in her yard several months ago when she mentioned the Hendersons had one too.

Without notice a city crew arrived early this morning. When a neighbor noticed them cutting down the wrong tree they tried to stop them, she said.

When Henderson's husband Ronald called the city, he said he was told they had mistakenly done it and offered to replace it.

"It isn't going to be anywhere near what it was," he said. "It was so beautifully formed. It was always Lois' pride and joy."

Henderson said he wished the city would be more courteous and tag suspected diseased trees before removing them, but when he spoke with Cedar Rapids Public Works Maintenance Manager Craig Hanson, he was told the city has a right to cut down trees as required.