A remarkable tree in Orono estimated to be 350 years old has been decorated roughly with red spray paint around its sturdy trunk.
The damage was discovered on Wednesday and appeared to include a pair of initials, Orono Land Trust said on Wednesday, calling it “heartbreaking to so many people.” The white pine, known as the “Big Old Tree” and recognizable by the massive swooping limb emerging from low on its trunk, appears on the trust’s logo.
The Big Old Tree was already very big and old when the Orono Land Trust was formed in 1986 to buy and preserve a 44-acre parcel of private land with trails that local residents had been using for years. The Jeremiah Colburn Natural Area, as it is known, was donated to the town.
On Wednesday the trust said the town’s public works department will be looking at the tree to determine if the paint can be safely removed.
“If anyone knows M&C we’d like to explain why paint is bad for trees,” the trust said.
