Crews with Shawnee County Parks and Recreation worked Monday to remove a massive tree, estimated to be about 200 years old, that split and collapsed over the weekend.
The tree, a bur oak, stood in the east part of Crestview Park near S.W. Shunga Drive and Gage Blvd. It was never formally measured, but parks officials estimated the tree was as tall as 60 feet before it collapsed.
It fell Sunday, said John Day with Shawnee County Parks and Recreation, after struggling with rot problems. As Day touched part of the exposed bark, it crumbled.
Day said crews had been out Thursday after a portion of the tree broke off.
After the tree fell on Sunday, children were reportedly climbing on it, which was hazardous, Day said.
Crews Monday were waiting on more equipment to be fully remove the tree.
Bur oaks, part of the white oak family, are native to Kansas and can grow up to 80 feet tall with a lifespan as long as 400 years.
(Read more: Local – The Topeka Capital-Journal)