Known in local vernacular as the “Anne Frank Tree,” the 150-year-old chestnut trunk’s claim to fame was its role in the teenage girl’s Nazi-related plight.
The AP reports that Monday’s Amsterdam storms were strong enough to topple the tree used as a source of solace by Frank during the Nazis’ occupation of the Netherlands. Plagued by fungi and moths for several years, the structure faced several attempts by city officials to order it to the ground.
But with the help of local advocacy efforts, the historic arboreal symbol staved off its opponents, letting nature spell the end of Frank’s emotion-laced setting.
“Nearly every morning I go to the attic to blow the stuffy air out of my lungs,” Frank wrote in her diary on Feb. 23, 1944. “From my favorite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the wind.”
