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War vet carved Our Lady of Guadalupe

Updated: Friday, 02 Dec 2011, 7:43 PM MST
Published : Friday, 02 Dec 2011, 7:43 PM MST

Kim Vallez

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A historic cottonwood tree that stood behind the San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church in Albuquerque's Old Town and had a carving of Our Lady of Guadalupe inside was toppled by Thursday night's winds.

The carving was created in 1959 by Toby Avila, a parishioner and soldier who had returned unharmed from the Korean War.

The story is that Avila made the carving as thanks to Our Lady of Guadalupe and chose to do in in an open wound inside the dying cottonwood. According to folklore the tree suddenly came back to life.

Thursday the winds toppleed the top half of the tree but left the carving was left untouched. Some parishioners believe Our Lady of Guadalupe had a hand in that.

Father Dennis Garcia says he believes the miracle here is that the tree caused just a small amount of damage on the roof and no one was hurt.

Garcia says they still don't know if they will have to pull the tree from the ground because of safety reasons, but the carving will be preserved.