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Artist News
U2’s actual Joshua tree vandalised
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 26 February 2015
So this just in from the tree news desk, the tree that famously appears in the artwork that accompanied U2’s 1987 album ‘The Joshua Tree’ has been vandalised.
We know this thanks to a post on a U2 message board spotted by Consequence Of Sound, in which a fan who lives in the region of California where the photos were taken reports on a recent trek to visit the actual Joshua tree.
He writes: “I’ve been visiting U2’s Joshua tree in the California desert for nearly 20 years now; the Mojave is my home. This past Sunday, I made my yearly hike out to the tree with my dog to reminisce only to find that some hack, and I do mean hack, decided it was a bright idea to take a hacksaw to one of the tree’s limbs – evidently to remove an inch thick cross section as a souvenir”.
He goes on: “I won’t even elaborate as to how pathetic this is. Let’s just say it was a good thing I didn’t happen upon this ignorant low-life degenerate in his course of action. Yes, I wrote ‘his’ …there’s no way a woman would have done this”.
Noting his belief that a fan was also behind the tree falling over back in the 1990s (probably by climbing on it for a photo), he concluded: “In short, leave the damn tree alone, so that future fans can enjoy it. Left alone, the tree will be there for many, many decades to come”.
Though if you quite like the idea of watching a U2 fan vandalise a tree, apparently the NME are selling tickets for the next branch chop…
