Workers deem tree too puny, replace it

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Christmas tree selected for the Rhode Island Statehouse rotunda has been removed after staff decided it was too puny.

The 14-foot-tall tree was donated by a tree farm. Workers put it up, then realized it was too small and didn’t fill the rotunda.

The governor’s office says the little tree was moved outside to the statehouse steps and will be decorated and displayed there.

The office has gotten a 20-foot-tall tree to replace it.

There have been a few mishaps with Rhode Island’s Statehouse tree in recent years. In 2005, the tree shed all its needles after it was doused in fire retardant.

Former Gov. Lincoln Chafee refused to call it a Christmas tree, calling it a holiday tree instead. That led to angry protests.