Tree planted in memory to Beatle George Harrison destroyed by beetles
Tree planted in memory to Beatle George Harrison destroyed by beetles Getty

Beetle mania broke out again when a plague of insects destroyed a tree planted in loving memory of George Harrison by eating it.

Bark beetles and ladybirds chomped their way through the Harrison tree during several hard days' nights' worth of destruction.

Surgeons at the Griffith Observatory gardens in Los Angeles, in the United States, were left with no choice but to hack down the tree.

Now only a stump remains of the tree planted in his honour, next to a plaque which reads: 'In memory of a great humanitarian who touched the world as an artist, a musician and a gardener.'

Before his death in 2001 from cancer, Harrison was a keen horticulturalist. His tree was just the latest to fall victim to the march of insects in the gardens.

A new tree is planned to restore the tribute to the guitarist.