The Champagne Tree was cut down on 31st March 2022, months short of it achieving protected status in the new district plan. The felling took the city by surprise and was the result of a secret agreement between the land owner and the developer (a former mayor of Timaru) of the next door property.
Descendants of George and Elizabeth Rhodes are attempting to continue the tree's life through cuttings and/or tissue culture for the future benefit of Timaru (Rolleston, W., April, 2022).

'Mrs. (Elizabeth) George Rhodes grew this tree from a seed that had belonged to her husband, George Rhodes of The Levels. She later married Arthur Perry, and when they moved from Linwood House, the site of the present Municipal Buildings, to Beverley, Wai-iti Road, in 1873. she took the tree with her. It was then well-grown, and A.W. Wright bet her a case of Champagne that it would not grow' (Burstall, S.W. 1973. Forest Mensuration Report No. 22 pg. 42).

The tree is a prominent feature on the Timaru landscape and has been dressed with Christmas decorations each since 2003 (Cadwallader, B. 2017).