The French president offered the young oak to Trump on the occasion of a state visit to Washington in 2018, and the two shovelled dirt around it under the watchful eyes of Melania Trump, Brigitte Macron and cameras from around the world…

But a few days later, the tree was nowhere to be seen, having disappeared into quarantine. Images showed only a yellow patch of grass in the spot on the White House South Lawn where the tree was planted.

“It is a quarantine which is mandatory for any living organism imported into the US,” Gerard Araud, who was then the French ambassador to the US, wrote on Twitter, adding that it would be replanted later.

But it was never replanted: the tree died during quarantine, a diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse.