Democracy Dies in Darkness

Stumpy, the little cherry tree that could, no longer can

The celebrity tree of Washington’s Tidal Basin was removed Friday as part of a planned reconstruction project.

By
May 24, 2024 at 6:53 p.m. EDT
Cherry trees are removed from the area around the Tidal Basin in advance of the renovations of the sea wall in Washington on Friday. (Joe Heim/The Washington Post)
3 min

Stumpy, the beautifully bedraggled cherry tree that captured the hearts of visitors to Washington’s Tidal Basin with its plucky resilience and apparent obliviousness to its fate, is no more.

The National Park Service announced in an email that the hollow tree was removed at about 11 a.m. Friday. It was one of 158 cherry trees designated to be taken down as part of a new sea wall construction project on the south side of the Tidal Basin and along the Potomac River.