Despair after 200-year-old ‘grandmother’ tree toppled for Trump’s border wall: ‘It crushes your heart’

<p>Protesters spent months occupying an ancient cottonwood. Then a tense standoff with US border patrol came to a head</p><p>A 200-year-old cottonwood tree near the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/us-mexico-border">US-Mexico border</a>, known as the “grandmother”, has been destroyed to make way for the construction of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump">Donald Trump</a>’s border wall, despite a months-long effort by protesters trying to save it.</p><p>In late July, land defenders began <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/04/protesters-occupy-tree-us-mexico-border">a tree-sit</a> in the ghost town of Lochiel, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/arizona">Arizona</a>, taking turns occupying a platform high in the tree’s canopy. The group remained there for more than 70 days.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/10/cottonwood-tree-toppling-trump-mexico-border-wall-arizona">Continue reading...</a>