STONEWALL, La. – DeSoto Parish took home the title of the having the world’s tallest Christmas tree structure. Over 500 vehicles arrived at the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office to watch fireworks, drink hot cocoa, and get their pictures taken with Santa Claus all with the “Spirit of DeSoto Tree” in the background.

The DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office added 10,250 LED lights to its 300-foot tall communications tower behind Stonewall Government Plaza.

“It went from a cool idea to we’re going to have the largest tree in the world,” Sheriff Jayson Richardson said.

Everything associated with transforming the tower into a Christmas tree is privately sponsored. Richardson credits businessman Perry Thompson, who is building his own Lumiere Christmas Experience in Stonewall, with doing most of the leg work on the project, from engineering to building the light setups.

Lights will stream down from the 28-story tower and spread out into the shape of a Christmas tree.

While there won’t be an official designation of the tower-turned-tree being the “current” tallest in the world, a quick Google search shows DeSoto’s will dwarf one in Indianapolis, Ind., that’s 284 feet tall. The title of tallest in the world at one time went to Brazil, which in 2009 had a Christmas tree structure standing 400 feet. But it was only a one-season attraction.

Various sponsors and donors have made the project possible. Richardson emphasized no public money has been spent on it.

The tree will be lit from dark til 10:30pm each night until the first week of January.

Source: KTBS