The name of the bench, "Sofora" or "Sophora", was used, because a pagoda tree once was part of the sophora genus. The very first tree that was once planted in this park was in fact a Japanese pagoda tree. After 120 years the tree was dead and had to be removed, but to remember it, a beautiful bench showing the stump of the tree formed of bronze was erected. And they used that part of the wood of the tree that was still usable to create the rest of the bench. To tell the story of the tree there was an information plaque put near (a few meters away) of it and a small bronze plaque to give information about the artist. The information plaque commemorates the tree in Serbian and English text.
The (corrected) English text is:
Bench "Sophora"
Academy Park
This used to be the site of a Japanese pagoda tree trunk which had the age of 120 years, 25 m tall and a diameter of 4,25 m. It was the first tree planted in this park. This impressive specimen witnessed a lot of history in this area. After many years it reached its physiological maturity, and was diseased in the roots and had to be removed. Due to its great historical significance in the site where it grew, an art shaped bench has been placed made of the wood of this sophora tree, as a token of its existence. The foundation of the bench is the authentic root of the cut down Japanese pagoda tree, and around it three young trees have been planted which in this site are a continuation of its species.
The sculptor Bogdan Vukosavljevic created the bench and according to the benchs Wikipedia entry the bench was opened on May 18, 2010.