To be fair, the tree they were referring to was an "Asherah tree" or "Asherah Pole", a tree dedicated to the Canaanite goddess of fertility, Asherah. You might be more familiar with her medieval name "Astaroth."
There are some Israeli pagans (think Wicca for ethnic Israeli Jews) who plant Asherah trees in their gardens.
"But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?"
-Mark Twain