Anne Frank Tree in NYC's Liberty Park struggling with fungi issues

The Anne Frank Tree in Liberty Park in Lower Manhattan is struggling to survive.

The tree grew from the rootstock of Anne Frank's white horse chestnut tree, which she could see from the attic where she hid from the Nazis. It inspired her diary entries, including one reading, "Nature brings solace in all troubles."

The Anne Frank Center USA donated the tree 10 years ago, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey planted it at the World Trade Center and dedicated it in 2017.

Today, the tree looks bare, and the few leaves still hanging are brown and shriveled.

"We'll do everything we can to try to save the tree," said Jolene Yeats, director of the World Trade Center department at Port Authority.

She shares their landscape team has treated the tree for leaf blotch, a fungal disease, numerous times over the years. It looked healthier after the most recent treatment in May, but it took a turn in July. That's when they sought outside help.

"We worked with our landscape team, and we sent some samples to Cornell," Yeats said.

The results revealed two more fungi are affecting the tree, and issues go root deep. The Anne Frank Center USA is also helping.

"I started to talk to the men who take care of and grow the trees for us in Indiana, the Vallonia tree and seedling nursery, and ask them of all of these scenarios – could it be too much heat, too much sun, too much water?" said Anne Frank Center USA CEO Lauren Bairnsfather. "And it could be any of these things."

Bairnsfather adds early leaf drop is not completely out of the ordinary.

"What we really need to do is wait through the winter and see how the tree is doing next spring," she said.

"We've seen it have struggles before and recover, so we're just really hoping that we'll see that resilience again," Yeats said.

They hope this symbol of hope continues to bloom for generations.

The Anne Frank Center USA shares there are 22 Anne Frank trees planted around the country, and this is not the first to face such challenges.