A combination of photos shows, at the top, the Sycomore template tree along the Hadrian wall near Hexham, in the north of England, on June 4, 2023, and below, the Sycamore Sycamore Tree, September 28, 2023.
Oli Scarff / AFP via Getty Images
hide
tilting legend
Oli Scarff / AFP via Getty Images
London – When the emblematic Sycamore Gaping Tree was shot in September 2023, he sparked a wave of sorrow and indignation.
According to 200 years, the majestic tree came out of a plunge in the steep landscape of Northumberland, England. For decades, visitors have used it as a silently dramatic backdrop for picnics, vacation photos and wedding proposals.
But this story suddenly ended on the morning of September 28, 2023, when the beloved tree was found on the side, cut by a chainsaw.
Now two English have been sentenced to crime.
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were each was each sentenced on Friday of two accusations of criminal damage, linked to the cheeky law of vandalism in northern England. The two men had damaged the tree which belonged to the National Trust, as well as damaging the historic wall of Hadrian, which was touched by the trunk of the large tree when it fell.
Graham and Carruthers were found guilty in Newcastle Crown Court. They should currently be sentenced on July 15, the court said in a note at NPR.
During the trial, the Crown prosecution service said that the men had recorded a video of them cutting the tree. Prosecutors say that the pair relieved the anxiety they caused.
In response to the conviction, the National Trust thanked the prosecutors and the Northumbria police for having resolved the case.
“The unnecessary slaughter of the Sycamore Gap tree shocked people across the country and abroad, demonstrating the powerful link between people and our natural heritage,” said a spokesperson for the National Trust in a statement sent to NPR.
“It was felt particularly deep here in the northeast of England where the tree was an emblem of the region and the backdrop to many personal memories.”
The chief prosecutor of the crown, Gale Gilchrist, of CPS North East, said in a press release: “In just under three minutes, Graham and Carruthers put an end to his historical heritage in an act of deliberate and insane destruction.”
“While the news of their crime spread the next day, the pair exchanged messages, reveling in the public outcry they had caused,” added Gilchrist.
The Sycamore Gaping tree has developed in a ravine near the Hadrian wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which once marked the border of the Roman Empire. Over the decades, the tree has become a beloved icon, presented on postcards and in Kevin Costner’s film in 1991, Robin Hood: Prince of thieves.
For the admirers of the tree, a little relief came last summer when the same Ranger who had initially discovered the Sycamore Fallen declared that he had seen new growth shoots along his stump, fueling the hope that the tree could regenerate.
The National Trust and the Northumberland National Park Authority also worked to germinate seeds and feed the cuttings of the famous tree.
The police previously said that two other people who were initially questioned in the weeks that followed the tree reduction – a 16 -year -old boy and a 60 -year -old man – do not face any other action in the case.
