The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree arrives in New York

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A seven-ton Norway spruce from Richfield, Ohio, has become the first Christmas tree from outside New York state to be placed at Rockefeller Center.

Rockefeller Center officials said they chose the tree as a way of honoring astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong, who are from Ohio.

The 73-foot-tall, 40-foot-wide tree, which is about 75 years old, arrived at Kennedy Airport Wednesday on an 80-foot truck inside a huge cargo jet.

The New York Police Department's Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Band was on hand to welcome the tree's arrival.

The tree was put in place Thursday morning. Workers will spend the next three weeks decorating the tree with 25,000 lights. The tree lighting ceremony will be held December 2.