Why was the Sycamore Gap tree cut down?

Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers have been found guilty of felling the beloved Sycamore Gap tree in September 2023.

Located at the Roman-made Hadrian’s Wall for centuries, the tree was a popular attraction in the Northumberland countryside.

The iconic landmark even featured in a scene of Kevin Costner’s 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Then without a warning, the 200-year-old sycamore was cut down on September 28, 2023, by Graham and Carruthers, leaving just a stump sticking out with the large trunk laying next to it.

But why was it cut down?

Why was the Sycamore Gap tree cut down and who felled it?

After locals discovered what had happened and news of the felling spread, police launched an investigation.

Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers drove 40 minutes at night to reach the remote spot in Northumberland, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

It was a ‘mindless act of vandalism’ by the pair, jurors were told, which took the pair just 2 minutes and 41 seconds to cut down.

They then spent the next day revelling in the news reports and took a wedge of the trunk as a trophy.

The court also heard how the pair thought it would be a ‘bit of a laugh’ to chop it down.

They were each found guilty of two counts of criminal damage – one to the much-photographed tree and one to Hadrian’s Wall, which was damaged when the sycamore fell on it.

Graham and Carruthers will be sentenced on July 15.

What is being done to save it?

National Trust which runs the site rushed to collect seeds and cuttings from the tree that could be planted and nurtured.

They were transported to a secret location somewhere in Devon to a ‘high security greenhouse’, a BBC report said.

Andy Jasper, director of parklands at the National Trust, said: ‘After discovering the felled tree, our teams were quickly on the scene to collect material that would enable us to propagate from the tree.

‘This work is taking place in our specialist rare plant propagation nursery and although this wasn’t really the right time of year to do this work, we are encouraged by positive signs of life, and are hopeful that over 30 per cent of the mature seeds and half of the cuttings (scions) will be viable, which means we can hopefully grow new descendants from the tree in the future.’

Now some of the fragile shoots grown out of the seeds have sprouted.

The hope is that some of them will ‘grow into strong, sturdy saplings – providing a new future for this much-loved tree’, Jasper said.

In total, the experts are looking after nine surviving grafted plants and 40-50 seedlings.

Ancient grafting technique joins sections of a fallen tree with healthy roots of another for a healthy tree to grow out of it if it goes well.

Chunks of the once majestic tree trunk were later transported to safety.

In April, the Tree Council announced that an action plan is needed to protect trees like the Sycamore Gap.

Northumberland National Park has announced that parts of the tree will go on display at the nearby tourist attraction The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre.

Jasper continued: ‘We are also hoping that the trunk of the original tree will regrow, but it could take up to three years before we know if this is possible.

‘As with many things in landscape restoration, we need to be patient and take the time to let nature do its thing.’

This article was originally published on March 9, 2024

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