The lane of trees planted in memory the 131 Catholics of the Armenian Apostolic Church on the grounds of the Cathedral of Saint Gregory the Illuminator no longer exists, having dried up or disappeared over the course of two weeks.

The tree planting had been composer Ara Gevorgyan's idea. "I wanted a park memorializing the Catholicoses to be created. Catholicos Garegin II was inspired by the idea and gave his blessing. We thought that the neighborhood of Saint Gregory the Illuminator would be a fitting place. I negotiated with the Mayor's Office about what kinds of trees would be planted and who would be taking care of them. Because of the lengthy discussions, the tree planting kept getting postponed. Then, an organization undertook to implement the project. I myself planted a tree in the blessed memory of one of the Catholicoses," Gevorgyan explains.

On April 17, 2004 , the trees were planted by the ecological organization Noah's Ark --131 silver firs along the left and right sides of the walk to the entrance of the cathedral. The event was festive - clergymen blessed the trees, and people who had gathered for the occasion planted them themselves, each receiving a certificate with the name of the Catholicos in memory of whom their tree had been planted. TV stations filmed the event, highlighting the participation of the minister of ecology.

"The tree planting was carried out together with the Ministry of Ecology and with the personal assistance of the Minister. It was by his will that the silver firs were donated from the Ministry's reserves and we created the lane of trees memorializing the Armenian Catholicoses," says Ghazar Mirzoyan, the chairman of Noah's Ark. It is not clear who was supposed to take care of the trees once they had been planted. According to Mirzoyan, the trees disappeared within ten or fifteen days; some 80% of the valuable firs were stolen and the rest dried up. "We never thought that people would commit theft from Church grounds. If we had imagined that, we would have solved the security issues," Mirzoyan says.

But Brother Sahak Shakaryan sees it differently: "No trees were stolen; we have watchmen. The silver firs dried up. This organization didn't understand the responsibility of planting trees in the Catholicoses' memory. We warned them in advance that we had a problem with water supply, that it was not just one or two trees but 131, and watering them would become a problem. They told us they would solve this problem; that is why the trees were planted. I took part in the event, too, and now I feel embarrassed that there are no fir trees here. Soon we'll have our water supply system, and we'll certainly restore the lane of trees."

As a rule, when trees are planted, an agreement is drawn up with a greenery organization in the district in question, to ensure that the trees are taken care of. But Noah's Ark had made no such arrangements in connection with the memorial, with either the Yerevan Mayor's Office's Planting of Trees and Gardens, CJSC or with a similar agency attached to the Administration of the Kentron District of Yerevan. Ghazar Mirzoyan notes that during the "initial period", his organization was prepared to take care of the trees until an agreement with the Administration of the Kentron district was reached. It was during this period, that the trees disappeared. The chairman of the NGO says, "We feel very bad that the lane doesn't exist anymore, but we will definitely plant silver firs and restore the alley."