A new 'friendship tree' will be sent to the White House after the one that France presented to the United States last year died while in quarantine, the French President has said, reports CNN.
In an interview with Swiss public television RTS, Emmanuel Macron confirmed that the tree he planted together with US President Donald Trump in 2018 was indeed dead.
"But we will send him another one. It is not a drama," Macron said Tuesday.
In 2018, Macron tweeted a video of the tree-planting ceremony on Twitter, saying the oak tree would be a "reminder, in the heart of the White House, of this bond that unites us".
However, while speaking with RTS, Macron said its death should not be seen as a symbol for French-US relations.
"We should not see a symbol where there is none. The symbol is that we planted it together," he said.
The French President added: "It so happened that this oak tree for quarantine sanitary reasons did not survive the quarantine in America ... the poor thing did not survive because it had to go through quite a tough diet. So another birch tree will be sent."
The original tree came from Belleau Wood in northern France, where thousands of US troops died during World War I.
"Over 9,000 American marines died in the Belleau Wood battle in June 1918 and the forest is a memorial site and important symbol of the sacrifice the United States made to ensure peace and stability in Europe," the White House said in a statement in 2018.
However, shortly after the ceremonial planting, the European sessile oak -- which was about four feet to five inches tall, and between five and ten years old -- was removed and placed under the care of the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at its facilities in Beltsville, Maryland.
The official told CNN at the time the quarantine was part of normal regulatory rules for imported trees and that it could remain in isolation for up to two years.