Thanks to the generosity of a Mandeville resident, three palm trees stolen from the Slidell 9/11 Memorial in early May will be replaced sometime next week.

Nicholas Trist of Mandeville read the article about the theft in the St. Tammany News then sent a $300 check to the 9/11 Memorial Committee to replace the three palms

“I just knew I had to do something,” Trist said. “People went through a lot to put it together, and we should always remember what happened on 9/11.” The memorial was dedicated in late April. In the center of a small circle in Heritage Park is a piece of steel that was once part of a construction beam in the World Trade Center in New York City. On Sept. 11, 2001, two passenger jets, hijacked by terrorists, smashed into the World Trade Center, bringing down the twin towers and killing 3,000 people.

The memorial also contains a small part of the wall of the Pentagon that was also attacked by terrorists on Sept. 11.

Surrounding the piece of steel and wall was a garden of begonias and a semicircle of eight palm trees. All the plants, along with the World Trade Center relic, were donated to the city by volunteers.

On May 5, a Slidell Department of Parks and Recreation crew discovered three of the palm trees missing, plus some of the begonias.

Also, the light that illuminates the centerpiece of the memorial had been kicked over and broken.

Parks and Recreation estimated the trees cost about $300.

Trist said creating the memorial was a “great gesture,” and he knew that he had to help out.

A former resident of Chalmette and a retired president of People’s Bank, Trist moved to Mandeville shortly after Hurricane Katrina and knew he had found a second home.

“I really love it here,” Trist said.

That was obvious when Slidell officials got the $300 gift.

The committee’s chair, Slidell Councilwoman Kim Harbison, said the trees would be purchased this week and planted in the second week of June.