Historic Encino Oak Tree Stump Has 'Twin' in Stockholm, Sweden

The on the historic oak tree stump on Louise Avenue, caused many of you to write in with your memories of the old oak.

Two Patch readers even wrote in from Sweden to share their story about a similar oak tree saga in Stockholm.

Johan Strömstedt and Bo Lagerqvist wrote to the editor of Encino-Tarzana Patch about a 600-year-old oak tree in their native town of Stockholm that was recently cut down by local authorities.

There are many parallels in the stories of the two oaks. According to Michael Crosby in his historical book Images of America: Encino, the existence of the 1,000 year-old Encino oak was threatened "when a developer planned to bulldoze it to build a road, what is now Louise Avenue. Local residents formed a group called Encino Save the Oaks, and the developer eventually donated the tree to the city."

The Encino oak eventually fell, writes Crosby, due to root fungus followed by a storm in February 1998.

The Stockholm oak, Strömstedt tells Patch, was felled by local authorities last November, even though, according to the opinions of experts, it was perfectly healthy. He and Lagerqvist are members of an organization called "Friends of the Oak."

Lagerqvist wrote that the group is now trying to have the tree stump designated as an historic monument in Stockholm, just as the stump on Louise Avenue has been in Encino.

"It was surprising to find out about the Encino oak," writes Lagerqvist, "and we will try to use the history of the Encino Oak in our efforts to save the stump in Stockholm as a historic monument."

He added that "Stockholm is nicknamed 'Eken' which means 'The Oak' in Swedish, just like Encino means Oak in Spanish."