A sign sits where a Japanese Maple once stood in Washington Park Wednesday afternoon in Centralia.
Larry Kershner talks about a Japanese Maple that once provided shade to those who gathered in Washington Park after it was cut down, Wednesday afternoon in Centralia.
A group of veterans planted a Japanese Maple tree about two years ago in Washington Park in Centralia. The group of veterans met beneath the “Peace Tree” every Saturday. Last week, they noticed that someone had chopped the tree down and hauled it away.
Emil Pierson, Centralia’s community development director, said it’s a mystery as to who chopped the tree down.
Larry Kershner, with Veterans for Peace and the Fellowship for Reconciliation, has been meeting with others at Washington Park every Saturday for 19 years to wave signs and advocate for peace. The group started meeting there in 2002 with the hope of applying pressure to prevent the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
“Maybe three years ago, there was a big maple tree in Washington Park and it used to shade us during our summers when we did our weekly vigils, and it got diseased and came down. So we offered to put in a Japanese Maple, which is a symbol of peace,” Kershner said.
He said the tree, which was purchased at Pioneer West, was doing well before it disappeared, standing at about 10 feet tall. Kershner said that the group plans to raise some money to plant a new tree.
“You can see the stump that is left and it looks like somebody probably used an ax. We have no idea if it’s related to our peace vigil or not. We have no clue as to what really happened,” Kershner said.
