FILE - Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, shining over the Sycamore Gap tree, on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, England, July 3, 2016. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP, File)
Adam Carruthers, right, arrives at Newcastle Crown Court where he is accused of criminal damage after the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree - valued at 拢622,000 and 拢1,114 damage to Hadrian’s Wall, in Newcastle, England, Monday April 28, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
FILE - Forensic investigators from Northumbria Police examining the felled Sycamore Gap tree, on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, England, Sept. 29, 2023. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP, File)
FILE - A general view of the stars above Sycamore Gap prior to the Perseid Meteor Shower above Hadrian’s Wall near Bardon Mill, England, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
FILE - A general view of the stars above Sycamore Gap, prior to the Perseid Meteor Shower above Hadrian’s Wall near Bardon Mill, England, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015.(AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
UK trial told Sycamore Gap tree felling was a ‘deliberate and mindless’ act
LONDON (AP) 鈥 A prosecutor said Tuesday that two men embarked on a 鈥渕oronic mission鈥 to cut down the famous Sycamore Gap tree in northern England in an 鈥渁ct of deliberate and mindless criminal damage.鈥
FILE - Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, shining over the Sycamore Gap tree, on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, England, July 3, 2016. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP, File)
LONDON (AP) 鈥 A prosecutor said Tuesday that two men embarked on a 鈥渕oronic mission鈥 to cut down the famous Sycamore Gap tree in northern England in an 鈥渁ct of deliberate and mindless criminal damage.鈥
The tree, revered for its symmetrical perch between two hills along ancient Hadrian鈥檚 Wall, was cut down in the early hours of Sept. 28, 2023, damaging the stone wall as it crashed to the ground. Although the sound was heard by few, the discovery of the fallen tree reverberated across the U.K and caused a .
鈥淭hough the tree had grown for over 100 years, the act of irreparably damaging it was the work of a matter of minutes,鈥 prosecutor Richard Wright told jurors in opening statements at Newcastle Crown Court.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
Wright against Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, who have pleaded not guilty to two counts each of criminal damage. Prosecutors said the value of the tree exceeded 620,000 pounds ($831,000) and damage to the wall was assessed at 1,100 pounds.
Wright said one of the men used a chainsaw to expertly fell the tree in Northumberland National Park, while the other filmed the act using a phone.
As they returned to their homes afterwards in Graham’s Range Rover, Carruthers received a video of his young child from his partner and replied, 鈥淚’ve got a better video than that,鈥 Wright said.
鈥淎t the time of that text conversation, the only people in the world who knew the tree had been felled were the men who had had cut it down,鈥 Wright said. 鈥淎nd the only people in the world who had access to the video were the men who had filmed themselves in the act of cutting down the tree: the defendants Graham and Carruthers.鈥
The tree was far from Britain鈥檚 biggest or oldest. But the way its graceful canopy filled the saddle in the hills along a stretch of the ancient wall built by Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122 to protect the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire had attracted generations of followers. The wall is a World Heritage Site.
The tree became famous after being featured in Kevin Costner鈥檚 1991 film 鈥淩obin Hood: Prince Of Thieves,鈥 and was a big draw for tourists, landscape photographers and people taking selfies.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
A criminal prosecution for cutting down a tree is rare and a prison sentence could be unprecedented if there’s a conviction, said Sarah Dodd, an attorney who specializes in tree law. The maximum penalty for criminal damage is 10 years in jail.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody has got a custodial sentence for the illegal felling of a tree yet in the U.K.,鈥 said Dodd. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 on the table because of the gravity of the situation. And when I say gravity, I think value and also the shock of the nation.鈥
鈥楢 source of great pride鈥
Before the tree was cut down, about 80% of the inquiries at the main visitors’ center of the were from people planning to walk to the tree, the park鈥檚 chief executive, Tony Gates, said.
“The tree is part of our Northumbrian identity. It鈥檚 something that everybody grows up knowing about,鈥 said Catherine Cape, who owns a guest cabin nearby. 鈥淔or the people in the villages around the tree, who live near the tree, it was a source of great pride.鈥
The felled sycamore was removed with a crane and taken to a National Trust property for storage. A section of the trunk went on display at the park visitor center last year and seeds from the tree that were for planting around the U.K.
The tree is now fenced off, but there are signs of a possible recovery. Dozens of shoots have sprouted from the stump.
