Could the end be near for a natural treasure, most likely hundreds of years old, in the Town of Stockbridge in Calumet County? That's the question being asked following Tuesday night's storms when that landmark was damaged. The towering cottonwood tree in Lakeside Cemetery in Stockbridge is a local landmark.
"A lot of people come down here. A lot of people know of the big tree at the cemetery," says Stockbridge Fire Chief Mike Funk.
And now they're coming to see what happened to the tree during Tuesday night's storms.
According to Chief Funk, "A local resident had stopped at the fire station and informed us that that tree down at the Lakeside Cemetery was on fire."
The branches and trunk tell the story of the lightning bolt that made its way through the tree Tuesday night, causing it to burn.