Sycamore Gap Tree at Hadrian's Wall Cut Down [UPDATED]

National Trust

One of the most photographed trees in the world, the Sycamore Gap Tree stood in a dramatic dip in Hadrian's Wall, well within Northumberland National Park and also on land cared for by the National Trust, just next to Milecastle 39. Hadrian’s Wall and Housesteads Fort is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tree was felled overnight in what appears to be an act of premeditated vandalism. A sixteen-year old boy has been arrested in connection with this heritage crime.  

BBC (Ian Sproat)

This is just so sick: 

kidderminstershuttle.co

UPDATE(29.09.2023)

Members of the public were asked not to visit the site while investigations were ongoing, so details were slow to get onto social media. When they did, overnight 28th/29th it seems that matters are not so simple. First of all it seems that this was done in the middle of a storm - not the best time for a lone unskilled teenager (even the most stupid and reckless) to attempt to bring down a tree of this size on their own, and - apparently - at night. Then there is this:

Dr Jonathan Foyle  @JonathanFoyle 7h
Personally find it unlikely a 16 year- old would bother to do this in a storm for a prank, let alone mark a saw cut with white paint.

That wasn't mentioned earlier. The comments underneath both posts confirm that many people (including those who have actually felled trees as large as this) think that the story of the 16-year old does not hold water, this was professional equipment used skilfully, and probably involved more than one person.

I could not understand the flat cut, apparently made from two sides, and the flat end of the fallen trunk and why it was so far from the stump. Somebody else pointed out that the photos show there is at least one bit missing.

Nick Blackford @nickblackford · 7h
It also appears as if a large piece is missing. The end of the felled tree doesn’t look nearly the same size or angle as the cut atop the stump…

Here is another post in the same vein:

Ken Ef 📸 @Clash16Ken 6h
It looks like a chunk of the trunk is missing from the tree.

.

Actually, I don't think he's right, as when you see a photo from another angle it's more obvious that this is a foreshortening effect (also you can see on the end of the fallen trunk where the fibres of the wood have been ripped when the tree fell, between the two cuts).

Photo: s. Mary Bennett

There is a growing feeling that there is a lot more of this case still to be revealed.

Ian Ashman @IanAshmanTHX · 6h
Isn't it convenient that the "perpetrator" is 16 years old, so they can't be named. 16? The size of that tree and they're claiming a 16yr old child did this? I smell bullshit. Someone's covering this up for reasons unknown.

UPDATE UPDATE (30.09.2023)


David McKenna and PA Media, 'Sycamore Gap: Man in his 60s held after Hadrian's Wall tree cut down' BBC News 6 hours ago

A man in his 60s has been arrested by police investigating the cutting-down of the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland. The landmark, beside Hadrian's Wall, was cut down overnight on Wednesday. Northumbria Police said the man was arrested on Friday evening and remains in custody assisting with inquiries. A 16-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage on Thursday and has since been released on bail, police said.