BATON ROUGE — Baton Rouge city leaders held a ceremony on Monday to honor veterans during the Christmas season.

They lit up a military holiday hero Christmas Tree with more than 200 names of Veterans and Active Duty Service Members placed on the tree.

The Mayor's Council of Veteran Affairs says they wanted the community to keep in mind members of the military who cannot be with their families this Christmas.

“There are people right now that are in cramped quarters, and they're thinking of their family members. There's people that are not here any longer, or maybe serving overseas, and will not see the birth of their child. They may not see a grandson being born. They may not be here for the death of a family member, possibly because of the situation they're in. So it is very important for people to when they look at a person's name to remember that there's a story behind each one,” Elena Branzaru, Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner, said

The Mayor's Office is still accepting names to put on the tree, and more details can be found here.