Two years later in 1931, the National Community Christmas Tree was again found to be so severely damaged that it was replaced a second time. The National Park Service history of the tree concludes that although there is no documentation that the tree was removed, photographic evidence clearly shows the tall Norway spruce had been replaced by a tall blue spruce. The National Park Service believes this tree was obtained from the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capitol, an independent federal agency, in the spring of 1931. During the ceremony that year, the button President Hoover pressed at 5 p.m. was not actually connected to the electricity[1] but set off a buzzer to alert another official to actually light the tree.[2] The button to be pushed by the president would not be reconnected to actual electricity again until 1980.[2]
