A 16-year-old boy has been arrested after one of Britain’s most famous trees, known from cinema and to tourists for its picturesque isolation and voted England’s best tree in 2016, was felled with a chainsaw.
Northumbria police say a 16-year-old boy was arrested and has been released on bail in relation to vandalism after the Sycamore Gap tree at the Roman defensive work Hadrian’s Wall was felled overnight into Thursday.
The force had vowed to “bring anyone responsible to justice” in the wake of the felling and the absolute outrage expressed in the United Kingdom after it became public. The county police commissioner was said to be “incandescent” with rage at what police called a “deliberate act of vandalism”.
Forensic investigators from Northumbria Police examine the felled Sycamore Gap tree, on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage in connection with the cutting down of one of the UK’s most photographed trees. Picture date: Friday September 29, 2023. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)
Perhaps sensing the strength of feeling — Britons are known to be, perhaps more than some, fond of trees — police made a strong response to the felling, sending several vehicles and officers to the crime scene on Thursday morning.
The news of the arrest led to a fresh flurry of speculation on social and legacy media over the potential motivation for cutting down the tree, and the skill required for a lone teenager in the dark to fell a considerable tree with such a clean cut.
The tree was not of enormous antiquity compared to some of Britain’s oldest trees, which can be thousands of years old, but its isolated position framed by a hollow standing over the ancient wall built at the order of Roman Emperor Hadrian in 122 A.D. made it beloved of tourists and walkers. The sycamore featured prominently in a key scene in Kevin Costner’s 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and was known to some for that as ‘The Robin Hood Tree’.
Some have now turned to ask what comes next for Sycamore Gap. A National Trust tree expert cited by The Independent suggests the tree could attempt to regrow with fresh roots in the spring, as it was clearly in good health before the attack.
NORTHUMBERLAND, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 28: ‘Sycamore Gap’ tree on Hadrian’s Wall now lies on the ground, leaving behind only a stump in the spot it once proudly stood on September 28, 2023 northeast of Northumberland, England. The tree, which was apparently felled overnight, was one of the UK’s most photographed and appeared in the 1991 Kevin Costner film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.” (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Forensic investigators from Northumbria Police examine the felled Sycamore Gap tree, on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage in connection with the cutting down of one of the UK’s most photographed trees. Picture date: Friday September 29, 2023. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)