SAN DIEGO -- The weekend's weather is believed to have played a part in the collapse of a much-loved landmark in Balboa Park.

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Players discovered Monday morning that the Shoe Tree in Morley Field had come down.

The tree was one of one of the hazards Frisbee players had to avoid at a 19-hole course for Frisbee golf at the park. Morley Field Disc Course pro Snapper Pierson said in 2005 that the tree was an "integral part of the design of Hole 2."

Twenty-eight years ago, the city said the tree was rotting and needed to come down, but players were able to save the tree by pointing out the shoes in the tree. A few years earlier, there were a few pairs in the tree. By the time the city wanted to take the tree down, there were hundreds of pairs. The tree became a landmark.

"Some people believe that the shoes were thrown up there by people got a hole in one," Frisbee pro Snapper Pierson told NBC 7/39. "When you got a hole in one, that thereby gave you a right to throw a pair of shoes in the shoe tree."

Pierson said he thought the tree was a victim of its own success. He said he believes that while the wind and decay were factors, the weight of the shoes also played a part in its destruction.