Ben Burmester, Auburn University campus planner, said the university hired Twelve Oaks Landscaping of Canton, Georgia, to do the transplanting.

Denny Langston, general manager of Southern Scape, said had partnered with the Georgia company to plant the new trees.

“They knew that once they replaced the one that got burnt, the other one kind of wasn't up to par anyway – like it wasn't really thriving like it should be,” Langston said. “So, they said lets go ahead and replace both of them at the same time. That way it would match, and they'd have some good healthy trees that they picked out quite a while ago.”

Langston said Southern Scape has four Auburn graduates on staff.

"We're big Auburn folks,” he said. “When we got a chance to come mess with these trees we jumped on it. …It's a big deal. Doing anything to give back to the university and be involved in something that you can tell your kids about one day down there is pretty awesome.”

The new trees will have a diameter of 11-12 inches and a height of 30-35 feet and should take root better because they are two inches smaller in diameter than the original replacements and have been in a nursery for the past year, according to the university’s press release.