--- title: George Harrison Memorial Tree Ironically Killed by Beetles description: In a terrible case of irony, Beatles guitarist George Harrison's memorial tree in Los Angeles has been destroyed by literal beetles. canonical: https://time.com/3018265/george-harrison-memorial-tree-beetles/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-22T13:17:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:11:50.711Z og:title: George Harrison Memorial Tree Ironically Killed by Beetles og:description: A terrible case of irony og:url: https://time.com/3018265/george-harrison-memorial-tree-beetles/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a01ed3ea65bdd09/69869c98d0b6f202fd305614/151207941.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2012 og:image:height: 1132 og:image:alt: Peter Carrette Archive Collection og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: George Harrison Memorial Tree Ironically Killed by Beetles twitter:description: A terrible case of irony twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a01ed3ea65bdd09/69869c98d0b6f202fd305614/151207941.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # George Harrison Memorial Tree Destroyed by Beetles > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jul 22, 2014 1:17 PM UTC  Musician and former member of 'The Beatles' George Harrison attends a press conference to launch the new book by Derek Taylor 'Fifty Years Adrift' at the Sydney Opera House on November 30, 1984 Musician and former member of 'The Beatles' George Harrison attends a press conference to launch the new book by Derek Taylor 'Fifty Years Adrift' at the Sydney Opera House on November 30, 1984 Peter Carrette Archive—Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jul 22, 2014 1:17 PM UTC In a terrible case of irony, a tree planted in memory of Beatles guitarist George Harrison in Los Angeles has been destroyed by literal beetles. The pine tree was planted in Griffith Park in 2004 in honor of the musician and avid gardener, who resided in LA at the end of his life. But don’t fret. [According to the ](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-george-harrison-tree-beetles-replant-20140721-story.html)[_LA Times_](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-george-harrison-tree-beetles-replant-20140721-story.html)_, “_Except for the loss of tree life, Harrison likely would have been amused at the irony. He once said his biggest break in life was getting into the Beatles; his second biggest was getting out.” No date has been set for the replanting of a new memorial tree. \[[_LA Times_](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-george-harrison-tree-beetles-replant-20140721-story.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3018265/george-harrison-memorial-tree-beetles/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3018265/george-harrison-memorial-tree-beetles/"},"headline":"George Harrison Memorial Tree Destroyed by Beetles","datePublished":"2014-07-22T13:17:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:11:50.711Z","description":"Much to the delight of wordplay fans","url":"https://time.com/3018265/george-harrison-memorial-tree-beetles/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Bizarre","Beatles","entertainment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a01ed3ea65bdd09/69869c98d0b6f202fd305614/151207941.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a01ed3ea65bdd09/69869c98d0b6f202fd305614/151207941.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Peter Carrette Archive Collection","caption":"Peter Carrette Archive Collection","creditText":"Peter Carrette Archive—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3018265/george-harrison-memorial-tree-beetles/","name":"George Harrison Memorial Tree Destroyed by Beetles"}}]}] ```