350-year-old tree burning in the night prompts investigation, Iowa officials say

A gnarled tree dating back about 350 years started glowing in the dark — and closer inspection revealed fire coming from its cavernous insides, according to Iowa officials.

It was a haunting sight, photos show, but the cause is likely criminal rather than supernatural.

Someone may have set fire to the state’s largest sycamore, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources reported in a Feb. 23 Facebook post.

It happened Sunday, Feb. 18, in the 1,600-acre Geode State Park, officials said. The park is about 130 miles southeast of Des Moines.

“A visitor alerted staff that a tree in the park was burning,” officials said. “While the fire was extinguished, the tree was severely damaged and its survival is uncertain. The cause of the fire is unknown. ”

The fire is considered “suspicious,” but state officials stopped short of calling it arson.

Photos show the fire was centered in the tree’s hollow interior.

The exact age of the tree is unknown, but experts believe it to be “around 350 years old, based on circumference and other measurements.”

That makes it about a century older than the Declaration of Independence that established the United States.

Sycamores are “a large tree with a massive trunk” that can exceed 100 feet in height and 100 feet in width, Iowa State University reports.

The species has ties to ancient mythology, including associations with “the world tree,” which Celts believed was connected to heaven, earth and the underworld, according to the Woodland Trust.

This story was originally published February 27, 2024 at 7:07 AM with the headline "350-year-old tree burning in the night prompts investigation, Iowa officials say."