Why Ball State chopped down 'gum tree'

For more than a decade, Ball State University students have been sticking their used gum to a small tree in the middle of campus.

To some it was art. To others it was disgusting. Either way, the quirky and even beloved tradition stuck.

That is, until last weekend, when the university apparently chopped the tree down. 

Students discovered a stump where the tree once stood, near Bracken Library on the west side of the Emens Auditorium parking garage.

Many took to social media to mourn the loss:

Students prepared to save the tree in the past, most recently in 2013. School officials said the school did not intend to chop it down, The Star Press reported at the time.

On Sunday, Ball State University spokeswoman Joan Todd said the tree was removed to make way for a new "walking mall," for which plans have been widely discussed and publicly approved by the board. 

According to Ball State's master plan, the walking mall will be a new and improved pedestrian and bicycle path between the east side of campus and the recreation center.

"This certainly was not intended to upset anyone or be insensitive to anyone's feelings about the gum tree," Todd told IndyStar Sunday night. "We hope that the improvements will take away the sting that anyone will feel about losing the gum tree."

Even so, it seems like this news is tough for students to swallow.

But all hope is not lost. Students took to Twitter to say they were ready to start a new tradition or even propose that like Groot in "Guardians of the Galaxy," it will regenerate.