SHALER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Going for a walk with her dogs at Mount Royal Cemetery is something Denise Bilka does three to four times a day.
She noticed right away during a walk on Sunday afternoon that a massive oak tree had fallen on her regular path.
“Sunday after the Steelers game, I brought my two pups out, and we walked, and I saw that, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’” She told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek.
It’s unclear why or how the tree fell.
Earlier this year, someone put a sign on the tree showing it has been in that spot for 245 years. The sign said it was just a seed in the year 1781.
Bilka said crews didn’t even know it fell until she told them on her walk Monday morning.
“I told the workers on Monday. They weren’t even aware that it had fallen and they were really shocked too,” Bilka said. “It’s just terrible because it was the oldest tree here! I’m sure there are other trees here that are probably close to that, but that was a beautiful tree.”
The uprooted tree took out part of the road in the cemetery. It’s roped off with red tape that says ‘danger.’
“It looks like some of the big branches are on top of some of the headstones. Of course, some of the headstones are in the ground, so it’s covering those too,” Bilka said.
It’s unclear if any of those headstones were damaged. It also does not appear any graves were damaged when the tree uprooted; A lucky break, Bilka said.
“I hope no more other trees come down like that,” she said.
Channel 11 left a message for the cemetery but did not hear back. There’s no word on how long it will take to clean the tree up.
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