Hurricane Irene killed Arlington Oak, the National Cemetery's famous tree

(Flickr/ttarasiuk)

Hurricane Irene may have knocked out our power and damaged the Washington Monument, but this news hits us where it hurts: A 220-year-old oak tree in Arlington National Cemetery, so popular as to have its own name, was felled by the storm. We will track Irene down and make her pay for this.

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Arlington Oak predated the cemetery, which was created in 1864, and the Arlington House, the former home of Robert E. Lee that still sits atop the hill,  the Post reports.

In the spring of 1963, officials said President John F. Kennedy visited Arlington House and remarked that the view was so magnificent that he could stay there forever. That November, the president was assassinated and his wife chose the hillside in front of Arlington House near the tree for his burial site.

The tree is now gone, along with five others, including a white oak near the memorial for Pan Am Flight 103. If only Irene were still here, so we could give her a piece of our mind.

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