ROME - Rome's pathetic Christmas tree, so droopy and dried out that residents nicknamed it "The Mangy One," will be carved up and turned into souvenirs and a lactation hut for mothers and babies, city officials said Wednesday. In giving the downtrodden tree a new life, Rome's cabinet moved to close an embarrassing chapter in which the holiday decoration came to symbolize the city's degradation and dysfunction under its 5-Star mayor, Virginia Raggi, and the years of neglect and corruption before her. Raggi insisted Wednesday that the tree ended up capturing the hearts of Romans and visitors alike, and that its future life would show Rome as a model of recycling. But not even its removal went as planned. Workers on cranes started taking down ornaments Wednesday, only to put them back after getting word that a formal farewell ceremony was planned for Thursday. The 21-meter-high tree, which was lit on Dec. 8, earned its moniker soon after it was hoisted up in the middle of Rome's main square, Piazza Venezia, and started dropping its needles at an unusually fast clip. Raggi ordered an investigation into why the needles fell off so soon, given the tree was alive when it was selected and cost 48,000 euros ($57,000) to transport from South Tyrol, an Italian Alpine region, to the capital. - AP