WTF!? No one noticed this widow maker hanging up the tree? Are people really that dense/oblivious/unable to forsee a dangerous outcome? Oh, wait, on the Capitol grounds? Never mind. /s. But also tragic.
ETA. Branch indeed. Just looked at the photo - the tree split at the base! Describing this as “a fallen branch” leaves a lot to be desired. And maybe the Capitol Architect should have a competent arborist 'round to look at the rest of the shrubbery.
This is what happens when maintenance is deferred. Because we cannot increase taxes under any circumstances.
@susanintheoc Exactly! From the photo it looks as though the tree had an unusual growth configuration for an American elm, which typically would divide into two or more stems much higher up. (I’m old enough to remember streets lined with healthy elms just before the Dutch elm disease killed so many of them here in the Northeast, so I know what they should look like.) The failure to remove this tree, or cable the two main stems, before the inevitable split occurred can indeed be lain at the feet of a penny-pinching buildings and grounds budget. On the doorstep of the bloody Capitol fer Crissakes! To the list of crumbling bridges and highways, etc., I guess we have to add toppling trees.