Tire tracks were still visible Wednesday in the yard of Colleen and Ted Walker, 3011 Tomahawk Drive, where someone drove through their lawn and struck a tree that was special to the Walkers. The tree was a memorial to their son Ryan, who died in 2003 at 17.

The vandals may not have known how much pain they caused when they smashed into the small evergreen tree in Ted and Colleen Walker’s front yard.

“It probably looked like a Christmas tree because it had red lights on it,” Colleen Walker said.

But it wasn’t about Christmas.

The little tree was a memorial to Ryan Walker, the child who was born with a heart and lung defect and lived 17 years. He died in 2003 during his senior year at Free State High.

“He always knew his time here was going to be short, and he never wasted it,” said Walker, his mother.

On the night of Ryan’s funeral, the Walkers returned home and found the tree – a gift from a loved one. They later planted it in their front yard and decorated it with lights. Its presence was a comfort for the grieving family.

“When a child dies, you need material things to cling to,” Walker said. “You need reminders that things are going to be OK. That was one of ours.”

Red was Ryan’s favorite color. For the Walkers, the tree’s red lights symbolized the strength and courage Ryan displayed in his life.

And the tree was recognized not only by the family, but others in the neighborhood. Over the years, some neighbors would send new sets of lights with messages of encouragement.

“There were certainly a lot of people around town who were fond of Ryan,” neighbor Ann Nichols said, recalling the standing-room-only services for Ryan back in 2003.

Last weekend, someone drove into the Walker’s yard and struck the tree, destroying it. When the Walkers discovered the damage, they were overcome with sadness. The track that the vehicle took along a neighbor’s driveway and through the yard convinced them the damage could not have been caused by accident.

Colleen Walker created a sign and placed it near the fallen tree – a message to the vandal or vandals that the evergreen was not simply decoration.

“I just wrote that the lights on this tree were kept burning bright in memory of our beloved son’s courage and strength,” she said. “I knew they’d come back and see what they’ve done. I hope they did. I hope they saw it and what they did.”

After a day or so, Ted Walker cleared away the tree.

“I think he couldn’t stand to see it crushed and mangled,” Colleen Walker said.

Other acts of vandalism apparently occurred in the neighborhood and Nichols questions whether the incidents were connected – damage perhaps caused by joyriders. Regardless, she thinks there’s still a way to ease the Walkers’ pain.

“Maybe they’ll realize: This is a stupid thing that I did, and I can make this up by paying for another tree,” Nichols said. “Not that I think it’s going to happen, but I think it would be great if it did.”