all trees around Jerusalem were destroyed by 70 A.D. by the Roman general, Titus, during his siege of Jerusalem. It should be noted that the Messiah was charged by the Jewish authorities with the most heinous of crimes -- that of blasphemy (see Matthew 26:65). This meant that he was looked upon by the people as "accursed of God," and this is exactly how the apostle Paul described him in Galatians 3:13. This was a reference to Deuteronomy 21:22-23 in the Old Testament -- where it explains that such an "accursed" person even defiled the very soil where his execution took place. This defilement also applied to the TREE on which a person was hanged or crucified. In the Book of Hebrews Paul said that the tree (the stauros ) was considered "a shame" (Hebrews 12:2) and the crosspiece (Latin: patibulum ) "the reproach" (Hebrews 13:13). All the instruments of crucifixion were "accursed" because they came into contact with the "accursed one." Writes Ernest Martin --  The essential teaching on how to cleanse the land of such "accursedness" is found in Deuteronomy 21:22, 23, and in the previous verse 21 it says this purging was to be done by burning (Hebrew: bahgar ). In the Old Testament example of such purging, it was thought necessary to burn the possessions of such an "accursed one" because the abominable sin of the person was even transferred to the things owned by the sinner (since he had touched them and this reckoned even