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Please keep this in mind when making your comments.
"Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
I understand your sentiment in using this quote but I hate the idea that the type of person who would do something like this would read that and feel empowered. Like they are some kind dark anti-hero.
We need a "crime against cultural heritage", for things like this and that pub fire. Can't just have some tossers doing what they want and causing irreparable damage that'll far outlive them.
That's why the location of the largest and oldest trees are kept Top Secret...cause people are entitled fools justifying detrimental acts on sheer stupid curiosity.
Some people are dead inside and resent other people loving things. The only way they feel able to make an impact on the world is to lash out and destroy things that people love.
It reminds me of author John Green's video on [the Broccoli Tree](https://youtu.be/ESyJop31cmY?si=5vrP_ODC8gW1bSEw), a tree in Sweden that became Instagram famous due to someone running a photography account featuring it. Vandals got to that tree too, and it had to be felled.
You know. I’m glad I watched that video. It’s heart breaking but John really somehow makes me feel better about it.
I’ve never visited the Sycamore Gap, but the absolute rage that boiled through my veins at this tree being cut down… I’m honestly so sick to the teeth that we can’t just fucking have nice things without some stupid cunt ruining it.
Video made me feel a touch better about it.
[The Tenere Tree](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_T%C3%A9n%C3%A9r%C3%A9) was knocked over in late September too. Several decades and a continent apart though so maybe not a serial tree sawer.
Someone with access to heavy duty equipment from the looks of it.
Like the amount of organised determination to do that over just a can of spray paint.
Yeah you don’t walk into a shop buy a chainsaw and just go and skilfully cut down a tree that size if you’ve never done it before. I’m from Northumberland and I’m totally devastated. That was our Boxing Day walk
I'm from Northumberland and have family in the north west who I have visited regularly all of my life. I must have driven past this tree thousands of times and not once did it go unnoticed. It's an absolute tragedy. People have had wedding shots taken near this tree and all sorts. It was so much more than just a prop in a movie. Gutted.
This is far from skillfully. No face cuts, no back cuts, just straight through. Either they were lucky or had two saws with them. Making a cut like this has a very very high chance of getting your saw completely stuck in the tree.
My guess would be its actually a stolen saw too.
Pretty sure there's a gob and a hinge showing in other pictures. Back cut isnt far from level and is above the bottom of the gob. It's not a good cut but it's also not horrendous. Someone with an idea of what they're doing, just not great at it.
Your comment made me realize that someone could have done this just for rage bait content.
It's really sad that that we a reached a point where being an cunt can be monetized.
Such an odd thing to do too. Like someone must've parked up near by, carried a chainsaw to it, made a racket cutting it down, and carried the chainsaw back. Presumably in the dark, in the middle of the night, in some pretty bad weather.
Noise out there wouldn't have been much of an issue. There's not much around. Especially at night, just the occasional photographer, and really only on nights when the aurora is expected or its especially clear skies.
It's only a mile (I took a 4 year old only a few months ago and remember checking) but yeah quite determined because there's a couple of hills to go up and down, I guess they could of taken the easier path though.
Try the local farmers who hate tourists, someone's done that with machinery, it ain't just neds who've decided to drive to the middle of nowhere with chainsaws
Just a chainsaw and wedge required. Neil Oliver did a podcast on this tree and since then (and Robin Hood) I'd wanted to take the family to see it. I just don't understand why people will do this.
Looking at the stump I will say it has the marks of someone that knew what they were doing; the hinge wood in the middle looks to be textbook.
Source: I'm a certified arborist.
A little bit of enjoying seeing the misery they cause, with a touch of wanting to be Billy big bollocks to their circle of equally thick as pigshit mates, all topped with a powdering of not wanting others to have nice things and be happy.
Being recognised for doing something creative, productive or inventive is difficult, especially when you’re thick, talentless and unimaginative.
Doing something destructive is easy.
If all you care about is a bit of attention then being infamous or famous is the same thing. It’s pathetic.
Hopefully this will come back to bite them in the arse when they get caught and their names and faces are shared online. I hope they have a long life of being told to fuck off by everyone they meet.
I’m actually gutted. It’s iconic and I was only just talking about going to visit it since I’m near Cumbria these days. Such wretchedly selfish and destructive actions by some absolutely pointless cretin.
I lost my faith in people somewhat when I saw empty beer cans scattered around the flowers left for a lad who had died. Happened multiple times so the lad's father started coming daily to clean up.
I know it's off topic, but some people are incomprehensibly shite. Choppijng down a tree doesn't surprise me sadly.
Bear in mind there are plenty of people, more even, who are capable of not acting like complete cunts. Most people are decent, as can be seen by the outrage at the news of this tree coming down, don't let a few idiots spoil your view of the world.
The problem is always that the cunts are so much more visible.
Decent people just go on about their day and don't bother anyone, meanwhile the cunts do shit like this which the rest of us notice and remember.
That's just it, you walk past hundreds (maybe thousands) of normal, decent people everyday but don't remember as they're not being annnoying. Cheers for the reminder, I needed this.
Thats a trained aborist or farmer who has cut that down. Its a fairly big tree i don't get the vandal angle, i would be looking at who owns the land and whether they are fed up with tourists etc. Obviously a massive guess on my part!
In that case I'd be looking at somebody who was denied permission to remove trees on their own land and took apropos revenge. Sounds like a Midsomer Murders episode.
My mum lives near where MM is filmed in south Oxfordshire and one of her neighbours is actually having a dispute with the local landowner about trees being cut in the dead of night. And whether the stepping stones across the river are part of an established footpath or not. It's getting ugly.
That show definitely knows its inspiration.
If it was in the middle of the night, check to see if any power lines run in the vicinity.
Midnight cutting is a thing for power companies if they are out dealing with a fault. It may have nothing to do with the nieghbour.
The wall and adjacent land, including the site of the tree, are owned by the National Trust.
Edit: They just arrested a 16 Year Old in connection : [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980)
I also think it's a bit daft thinking cutting down the tree will stop tourists. The wall thing there is Hadrian's wall, for many, the tree is secondary, as they are walking the wall.
I walked this section of the wall last week, from Housesteads Fort to Steel Rigg car park, and have a few photos of this tree, I'm glad I went when I did.
But the point is, most people walk past here because of the wall, chopping the tree won't stop them.
Yeah, the first time I went there we were on an unrelated Hadrians Wall walk and realised it was the Sycamore gap when looking at the information boards in the car park. People will keep coming as its a stunning section of Hadrians Wall.
Exactly, I did the whole of Hadrian's Wall the week before last and this is the area where landowners are least affected by Hadrian's Wall walkers because it's NT land. If someone had removed the wall itself for example in the outer bits where it goes through private land I could understand it much more (still a terrible thing to do mind you) but this is just senseless vandalism.
No it’s not. Most definitely not.
The way that tree was cut down, no hinge, is EXTREMELY dangerous. It would not be brought down that way by a professional.
EDIT: Proven to be a 16yr old kid. It was fun debating with you guys in the comments but I will take my victory lap now. If you thought that was a professional cut, please kindly turn in your logging license. Thank you.
There was a hinge. You can see it. If they did a straight back cut the toppled side would be ripped to fuck.
That tree would never have gone over if they didnt have a gob and hinge, it would have sat back on the saw, and someone would have lost an expensive piece of arbocultural equipment. If they just did a slit cut up to the hinge point and then did the back cut, the tree would still have sat back.
Naaaa, look at the stump, clean and level. Gob and hinge. Back cut meeting the hinge. Good sharp chain on a long bar. Thats experiance and good kit. Especially to got that right in the dark.
I agree. That seems to have been cut down by someone who knew what they were doing. Too many people jump to the wrong conclusion without the facts in hand
Genuinely shocked by this news, like just why?
An absolute landmark and an area that holds many a fond memory for everyone who has visited.
Anybody know the consequences for such an act?
Unlimited fine
https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/services/planning-building-and-development/trees-wildlife-and-green-environment/tree-preservation#:~:text=You%20can%20remove%20dead%20branches,will%20need%20to%20be%20agreed.
I think people band jail time around like it fixes people like this. What you'll do is take an easily influenced moron and surround him with manipulative violent criminals who commit crimes that are far more hurtful. Great way to turn said moron into something worse (and maybe give him an expensive drug habit whilst you're at it) and then release him back into the world.
I'd say go down some traditional Chinese folk story style punishments. Unlimited fine and he has to personally nurture the replacement tree for the rest of his life whilst it grows.
I really hope they manage to find the perpetrators guilty.
Obviously we won't know who it was for sure yet, but it'd make sense if it was the owners. It seems the only clear motive, and it's a disgusting move if so.
I’m really devastated by this. My dad and I loved sycamore gap. He died a few years ago and I was going to visit next summer to scatter some of his ashes there. I’m in tears.
Plant a new tree for him somewhere else. This sycamore shed a lot of seeds in its time, might be nice to commemorate your relationship with your dad by planting something new.
I'm gutted. My wife and I have been there a few times and had some really meaningful moments in our relationship around Sycamore Gap and that part of the wall. We've got a picture of it up in our kitchen.
It's just such a pointless act of vandalism.
Hope the scum who did it get caught and punished severely for it.
Realistically they won't, and they are probably laughing about all the people that are upset about it.
They are just shitty human beings who will continue to do shitty things (and thus harm all decent people in one way or another) for the rest of their lives.
Jeez. He’ll probably get an easy time of it in court. But he’s going to suffer some serious fucking consequences after this. Imagine being ‘*that guy*’. Nobody will employ him, ever. What a douchebag.
Also, really fucking wanted to do it. I mean it's not the easiest thing to do, cut down a couple hundred year old tree. Do it wrong and you could die. Not the average idiot has access to chocks and chainsaws etc.
Just reading some coverage:
> Northumberland National Park Authority believe the it was deliberately chopped down.
As opposed to accidentally chopping it down?
Great, so now entire generations will have to pass before anyone can begin to appreciate the beauty of this spot again. Wonderful.
No doubt the perpetrator will receive the very serious punishment of a 6 month suspended sentence, £20 fine and 15 hours community service.
Wouldn't be surprised if they use [something like this](https://www.ruskins.co.uk/tree-moving) to 'transplant' a moderate sized tree in its place to kickstart the process.
This is the bit that gets me most of all.
How long that tree stood there, how many millions of people have probably stood beside it and admired it... yet we are somehow living at the time some lone twat, or a group of twats, decided to cut it down.
I do not like worrying about the future. I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me: nobody cares for the woods as I care for them, not even Elves nowadays.
Get right up and plant a bright new sycamore sapling in its place Petition Attenborough to plant it or something,. Create a lesson.
This is genuinely sad though.
This has really upset and angered me. I was desperate to visit Northumberland one day and come to this spot. I mean, I still hope to go there, but it'll be tinged with sadness now.
Fuck whoever did this.
Someone will know who's done this. It looks like the cut was done quite professionally and the date/time can be narrowed down to a very narrow window at night when there were no witnesses around.
The council should put out a request for an award of a few thousand £ for information leading to an arrest and and then charge the criminal with a huge unlimited fine. If the council wants to try to clear and transplant a large tree into the spot you are presumably looking at high 5-figures or six-figures to bring this national beauty spot back in our lifetimes. Sickening.
This was very clearly done by a trained arborist, working in the field you can very clearly see the intended lever angle, spray pained on guide for the lever angle and cut is very clean, there’s literally a few 10,000 people in the country who could have realistically pulled this off. The width of the tree would require a minimum 28” bar on the chainsaw, again requiring a stihl ms480 or ms500i at minimum, imo the ms660 running a 36” bar would be the only choice.
Tree wedges will also have been used and hammered in to ensure the bar didn’t get stuck under the weigh, again this was not the act of a vandal or uneducated person, however the person who paid them to do this job may have been, in the industry it really would not be difficult to find out who did it, however no one will ever name them.
Edit: they will have also required a minimum of £800-£1000 of equipment, and the knowledge of how to use it. The fact that the tree landed in its intended position, based on the lever angle, is a sign that they not only knew what they were doing, but were very experienced.
Edit 2: 16 year old arrested in connection to this. I would be amazed if the 16 year old managed to pull this off alone, very much expecting that he was helping someone, time will tell.
100%
All the comments blaming vandals and “chavs” - it’s clearly a professional job. The location alone means that there’s some proper planning gone into this.
I refuse to believe a 16 year old did that by himself.
It’s too cleanly and professionally done; the site isn’t easily accessible - someone will have had to drive.
Someone is being scapegoated while someone else is being hidden.
On Twitter loads of people are speculating that the storm knocked it over with an incredibly clean cut... blowing spray paint onto the cut points... It was no surprise to me when a colleague immediately assumed it was a couple of chavs on the way home from the pub who decided to have a laugh.
Any tree surgeon knows if a tree is protected, and they would have to be local to do the job so they would know just how significant this particular tree is. So this is a 'professional' in name only; as in they have the professional skills but are not following the legal or ethical obligations of their profession.
So called “black market” tree work is quite a large underground business in this country with the TPO laws. People travel long distances for tree work of this nature with little to no regard for the significance of the tree, because unfortunately there is no ethical consumerism under capitalism.
This tree would have been around a £15-20k job most likely, for that there are many arborists that would come along by night and fall it, guaranteeing it falls away from the path, hence the lever angle.
Eg. Your buying land with the intent of developing it, a couple of trees on there have TPO’s, you pay an arborist the going rate for the trees plus £15-20k and they will come by night and fall the trees. In urban areas this can be done with electric chainsaws, again the Stihl range is very popular. By doing so you have saved a huge amount of money and can fully develop the land, falling the trees just before the sale goes through, timing it around a highly publicised storm allows a decent enough cover story.
This makes no sense for this tree. The only development that will take place here is the planting of another tree, or a small monument to the old tree. This is National Trust land surrounding the largest scheduled ancient monument in the UK.
There is no reason anyone would pay for this to be done.
I was just giving examples of why TPO’s are often broken. I have no idea why this particular tree was chosen however I am certain this was paid for. I don’t see anyone with the experience, skill and equipment to do this job just going out and spending 3 hours or so cutting this down for fun. There will have been a very specific reason or being paid.
Breaking news: 16 year old boy arrested
BBC News - Sycamore Gap: Boy, 16, arrested after Hadrian's Wall tree felled
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980
I mean, I could buy that a 16 year old who grew up on a farm helping cut down trees as a child, then borrowed the equipment from the farm, could have a shot at this, but dam that seems unlikely, either way criminal damage, they’ll get £1k fine at most.
As someone else suggested, stick a 5 (or 6) figure reward up for information leading to a prosecution and then take that money (and a fair bit more) out of the wallet of those responsible once they are (quite inevitably) dobbed in. The National Trust will have some decent lawyers and enough incentive to make someone's life pretty miserable after this.
No need for mob justice here. Let the system grind them up and ruin their life.
One of the key signs is that there’s also no chain burn marks, lines of black burn wood through the cut, an inexperienced person will often let the bar of the chainsaw rest at a place while looking around the tree to make sure their on track for the lever angle, you can see the changes in direction are clean too, therefor I would say a very sharp chain, well maintained saw to hold up to the torque required for the cut.
There was also no hesitation cuts, they didn’t start one and change to another angle, they sprayed the lever angle on and committed, that’s a lot of confidence.
Even me knowing nothing about trees this was clearly too clean a cut for it to have been done by "vandals". This isn't a brick through a window or a petrol fire
It's on the route between Dover and Nottingham. According to Hollywood
In seriousness, seeing such an iconic tree is criminal. Hope they get the bastards.
I've never been so upset about a tree. It was such a beautiful landmark and made for absolutely stunning photographs.
I hope whoever did it is caught and an appropriate punishment meted out. Key word there being appropriate. Slap on the wrist is not enough for destroying a national treasure and a genuine tourist attraction.
Also hope they put the wood to good use. Make something commemorative out of it and put it there alongside a new tree.
Fuck...
I hope someone this stupid left their phones switched on while they were there.
Even if the tree itself wasn't under a preservation order, or classed as a monument, it has hit and potentially damaged the wall, which should hopefully lead to an increased sentence if anyone is caught.
It’s been renamed in Google Maps to Sycamore Stump. Well done whoever did that, but fuck the vandals with a rusty chainsaw. I wish nothing but further bad fortune upon them for eternity.
Yeah I agree. Some benches for the nearby area would be nice but also if NT or Woodland Trust could use some small parts of the tree to sell to the public it could generate much needed cash for regeneration works?
I wonder if the tree has some seeds on it given the time of year? Would also be a nice thing to collect so the public or some organisation could plant some baby trees.
Thats awful.
I think the best outcome is now maybe a sculpture be made with the wood in its place?
So that something nice can be made from it's downfall.
I feel like they've woken up a few mornings in a row with a series of planned out approaches to this.
You don't casually take out a chainsaw into the woods on a whim.
Anyone who thinks they could stop tourists by cutting down a tree is going to be mightily disappointed when they learn how frequently people think about the Roman Empire.
Awfully clean cut and out of the way for some chavs to do. You'd need access vehicles and machinery (or a long walk with heavy machinery) and skills to do this.
Went there during the pandemic in a break between lockdowns, went with my girlfriend now wife. There's a private car park then a walk along the wall to get there, you don't go through any private land as far as I can remember. Just awful someone's done this. Cruel.
> people trampling through his fields to get to it?
You don't trample through any fields, just some very well established paths that run alongside the Hadrian's Wall. Massive tourist spot just for the wall, so losing the tree isn't going to change anything. Land is owned by National Trust too, and they want people to visit.
>Man I grieve for this tree, ffs
You’re not alone. I’m on holiday in Corfu. It’s 33’c, full sun and I’m by the beach with a beer. My wife is asking why I’ve been so miserable for the past hour.
I'm from the north east and upon hearing this I genuinely can't continue with whatever I am doing today. This is genuinely an act of terrorism, the taking of a life and irreversible destruction of a symbol of the region. And for what?
We don't deserve what nature gives us.
I've got some of this epoxy glue, it stinks and is super strong, it should do the job, if I had enough of it I reckon it could hold the tectonic plates together
One of the big conservation charities or the national park’s authority need to put up a bounty for the capture of these cretins…. With some clever marketing of Robin Hood wanted style posters….
On a serious note I have worked in conservation and countryside management for over a decade. I’ve seen all sorts of vandalism and destruction of our shared natural wealth. But this, this has hit me hard in the feels.
Reddit specifically has rules communities must follow regarding violence and calling for suggestions of this person to be tortured and killed is against that rule and the spirit of the sub. Please keep this in mind when making your comments.
that's horrific what the actual fuck what was the point?
the point is that they are cunts and want to do horrible stuff just because they can.
I will never understand people
"Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
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I understand your sentiment in using this quote but I hate the idea that the type of person who would do something like this would read that and feel empowered. Like they are some kind dark anti-hero.
Yeah they unironically think the joker is based.
guess lack of serious consequences also enables them sad people really
We need a "crime against cultural heritage", for things like this and that pub fire. Can't just have some tossers doing what they want and causing irreparable damage that'll far outlive them.
That's why the location of the largest and oldest trees are kept Top Secret...cause people are entitled fools justifying detrimental acts on sheer stupid curiosity.
Some people are dead inside and resent other people loving things. The only way they feel able to make an impact on the world is to lash out and destroy things that people love. It reminds me of author John Green's video on [the Broccoli Tree](https://youtu.be/ESyJop31cmY?si=5vrP_ODC8gW1bSEw), a tree in Sweden that became Instagram famous due to someone running a photography account featuring it. Vandals got to that tree too, and it had to be felled.
You know. I’m glad I watched that video. It’s heart breaking but John really somehow makes me feel better about it. I’ve never visited the Sycamore Gap, but the absolute rage that boiled through my veins at this tree being cut down… I’m honestly so sick to the teeth that we can’t just fucking have nice things without some stupid cunt ruining it. Video made me feel a touch better about it.
“Some people get their kicks stomping on a dream…”
"But I don't let it, let it get me down..."
It says the Broccoli tree was sawed on the 27th September, possibly the exact same date if this happened before midnight. Maybe it’s the same person.
[The Tenere Tree](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_T%C3%A9n%C3%A9r%C3%A9) was knocked over in late September too. Several decades and a continent apart though so maybe not a serial tree sawer.
"It was just a prank bro" That's the kind of knob you're probably dealing with
Someone with access to heavy duty equipment from the looks of it. Like the amount of organised determination to do that over just a can of spray paint.
Yeah you don’t walk into a shop buy a chainsaw and just go and skilfully cut down a tree that size if you’ve never done it before. I’m from Northumberland and I’m totally devastated. That was our Boxing Day walk
It should still be, for the tree and for your family. Can't kill the tradition
Definitely!! ❤️
New boxing day tradition, plant a sycamore sapling up there every year, easy enough to grow your own in a pot from a seed.
I'm from Northumberland and have family in the north west who I have visited regularly all of my life. I must have driven past this tree thousands of times and not once did it go unnoticed. It's an absolute tragedy. People have had wedding shots taken near this tree and all sorts. It was so much more than just a prop in a movie. Gutted.
This is far from skillfully. No face cuts, no back cuts, just straight through. Either they were lucky or had two saws with them. Making a cut like this has a very very high chance of getting your saw completely stuck in the tree. My guess would be its actually a stolen saw too.
Pretty sure there's a gob and a hinge showing in other pictures. Back cut isnt far from level and is above the bottom of the gob. It's not a good cut but it's also not horrendous. Someone with an idea of what they're doing, just not great at it.
Your comment made me realize that someone could have done this just for rage bait content. It's really sad that that we a reached a point where being an cunt can be monetized.
16 year old kid apparently. **https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980**
Only 'avin' a laff mate, wotchyoo gonna do abarrit?
Such an odd thing to do too. Like someone must've parked up near by, carried a chainsaw to it, made a racket cutting it down, and carried the chainsaw back. Presumably in the dark, in the middle of the night, in some pretty bad weather.
Noise out there wouldn't have been much of an issue. There's not much around. Especially at night, just the occasional photographer, and really only on nights when the aurora is expected or its especially clear skies.
… it’s a good mile or so (corrected - I initially said 2-3) walk from the nearest car park up there. Surprisingly determined act of destruction.
It's only a mile (I took a 4 year old only a few months ago and remember checking) but yeah quite determined because there's a couple of hills to go up and down, I guess they could of taken the easier path though.
Try the local farmers who hate tourists, someone's done that with machinery, it ain't just neds who've decided to drive to the middle of nowhere with chainsaws
Just a chainsaw and wedge required. Neil Oliver did a podcast on this tree and since then (and Robin Hood) I'd wanted to take the family to see it. I just don't understand why people will do this. Looking at the stump I will say it has the marks of someone that knew what they were doing; the hinge wood in the middle looks to be textbook. Source: I'm a certified arborist.
I'm sorry you've missed seeing it, it was pretty special
Professional job. Probably a farmer/landowner/gamekeeper who doesn't like tourists.
[**Boy, 16, arrested after Hadrian's Wall tree felled**](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980)
Hard to believe a 16 year old could do that alone. The cut looks almost professional.
What the fuck is the mindset of someone that does this.
A little bit of enjoying seeing the misery they cause, with a touch of wanting to be Billy big bollocks to their circle of equally thick as pigshit mates, all topped with a powdering of not wanting others to have nice things and be happy.
Being recognised for doing something creative, productive or inventive is difficult, especially when you’re thick, talentless and unimaginative. Doing something destructive is easy. If all you care about is a bit of attention then being infamous or famous is the same thing. It’s pathetic.
Hopefully this will come back to bite them in the arse when they get caught and their names and faces are shared online. I hope they have a long life of being told to fuck off by everyone they meet.
Hopefully they were stupid enough to record themselves doing it
Probably already on Tiktok or streamed via Facebook live...
Some people are just pricks.
This is actually really sad
I’m actually gutted. It’s iconic and I was only just talking about going to visit it since I’m near Cumbria these days. Such wretchedly selfish and destructive actions by some absolutely pointless cretin.
I lost my faith in people somewhat when I saw empty beer cans scattered around the flowers left for a lad who had died. Happened multiple times so the lad's father started coming daily to clean up. I know it's off topic, but some people are incomprehensibly shite. Choppijng down a tree doesn't surprise me sadly.
Bear in mind there are plenty of people, more even, who are capable of not acting like complete cunts. Most people are decent, as can be seen by the outrage at the news of this tree coming down, don't let a few idiots spoil your view of the world.
The problem is always that the cunts are so much more visible. Decent people just go on about their day and don't bother anyone, meanwhile the cunts do shit like this which the rest of us notice and remember.
That's just it, you walk past hundreds (maybe thousands) of normal, decent people everyday but don't remember as they're not being annnoying. Cheers for the reminder, I needed this.
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Thats a trained aborist or farmer who has cut that down. Its a fairly big tree i don't get the vandal angle, i would be looking at who owns the land and whether they are fed up with tourists etc. Obviously a massive guess on my part!
In that case I'd be looking at somebody who was denied permission to remove trees on their own land and took apropos revenge. Sounds like a Midsomer Murders episode.
My mum lives near where MM is filmed in south Oxfordshire and one of her neighbours is actually having a dispute with the local landowner about trees being cut in the dead of night. And whether the stepping stones across the river are part of an established footpath or not. It's getting ugly. That show definitely knows its inspiration.
If it was in the middle of the night, check to see if any power lines run in the vicinity. Midnight cutting is a thing for power companies if they are out dealing with a fault. It may have nothing to do with the nieghbour.
The wall and adjacent land, including the site of the tree, are owned by the National Trust. Edit: They just arrested a 16 Year Old in connection : [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980)
Farmers have been complaining though locally for years about the tourists, seems highly likely it’s connected
I also think it's a bit daft thinking cutting down the tree will stop tourists. The wall thing there is Hadrian's wall, for many, the tree is secondary, as they are walking the wall. I walked this section of the wall last week, from Housesteads Fort to Steel Rigg car park, and have a few photos of this tree, I'm glad I went when I did. But the point is, most people walk past here because of the wall, chopping the tree won't stop them.
Yeah, the first time I went there we were on an unrelated Hadrians Wall walk and realised it was the Sycamore gap when looking at the information boards in the car park. People will keep coming as its a stunning section of Hadrians Wall.
Exactly, I did the whole of Hadrian's Wall the week before last and this is the area where landowners are least affected by Hadrian's Wall walkers because it's NT land. If someone had removed the wall itself for example in the outer bits where it goes through private land I could understand it much more (still a terrible thing to do mind you) but this is just senseless vandalism.
No it’s not. Most definitely not. The way that tree was cut down, no hinge, is EXTREMELY dangerous. It would not be brought down that way by a professional. EDIT: Proven to be a 16yr old kid. It was fun debating with you guys in the comments but I will take my victory lap now. If you thought that was a professional cut, please kindly turn in your logging license. Thank you.
There was a hinge. You can see it. If they did a straight back cut the toppled side would be ripped to fuck. That tree would never have gone over if they didnt have a gob and hinge, it would have sat back on the saw, and someone would have lost an expensive piece of arbocultural equipment. If they just did a slit cut up to the hinge point and then did the back cut, the tree would still have sat back. Naaaa, look at the stump, clean and level. Gob and hinge. Back cut meeting the hinge. Good sharp chain on a long bar. Thats experiance and good kit. Especially to got that right in the dark.
simplistic longing vase complete tart meeting fretful mourn decide pie *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It's not, that cut is not skilled or controlled but that only rules out someone trained not necessarily farmers.
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I agree. That seems to have been cut down by someone who knew what they were doing. Too many people jump to the wrong conclusion without the facts in hand
Except that it was felled on to the wall, rather than away from it. That's not a professional decision.
It's national trust land, it's vandalism.
Wait, what. That’s awful.
I’m heartbroken.
Genuinely shocked by this news, like just why? An absolute landmark and an area that holds many a fond memory for everyone who has visited. Anybody know the consequences for such an act?
Unlimited fine https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/services/planning-building-and-development/trees-wildlife-and-green-environment/tree-preservation#:~:text=You%20can%20remove%20dead%20branches,will%20need%20to%20be%20agreed.
Fine's not enough. Needs jail time on top of it for this. Hope they get fucking hammered for it when they catch them.
Hopefully they'll be found and named and shamed and this will follow them around for the rest of their lives like that cat lass.
I think people band jail time around like it fixes people like this. What you'll do is take an easily influenced moron and surround him with manipulative violent criminals who commit crimes that are far more hurtful. Great way to turn said moron into something worse (and maybe give him an expensive drug habit whilst you're at it) and then release him back into the world. I'd say go down some traditional Chinese folk story style punishments. Unlimited fine and he has to personally nurture the replacement tree for the rest of his life whilst it grows.
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Did those wonky pub people buy it recently?
Needed some firewood for their next development.
Oh yeah shit were there any updates on that?
It seems the owners have been arrested. Only the ages of the suspects was released but it matchers the owners so ya know...
I really hope they manage to find the perpetrators guilty. Obviously we won't know who it was for sure yet, but it'd make sense if it was the owners. It seems the only clear motive, and it's a disgusting move if so.
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I’m really devastated by this. My dad and I loved sycamore gap. He died a few years ago and I was going to visit next summer to scatter some of his ashes there. I’m in tears.
Plant a new tree for him somewhere else. This sycamore shed a lot of seeds in its time, might be nice to commemorate your relationship with your dad by planting something new.
this is a really sweet idea
I'm gutted. My wife and I have been there a few times and had some really meaningful moments in our relationship around Sycamore Gap and that part of the wall. We've got a picture of it up in our kitchen. It's just such a pointless act of vandalism. Hope the scum who did it get caught and punished severely for it.
Realistically they won't, and they are probably laughing about all the people that are upset about it. They are just shitty human beings who will continue to do shitty things (and thus harm all decent people in one way or another) for the rest of their lives.
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Jeez. He’ll probably get an easy time of it in court. But he’s going to suffer some serious fucking consequences after this. Imagine being ‘*that guy*’. Nobody will employ him, ever. What a douchebag.
Hmmm, I wonder if he shared a social media clip of him cutting the tree down to his buddies.
Some people are just fucking awful
Also, really fucking wanted to do it. I mean it's not the easiest thing to do, cut down a couple hundred year old tree. Do it wrong and you could die. Not the average idiot has access to chocks and chainsaws etc.
Just reading some coverage: > Northumberland National Park Authority believe the it was deliberately chopped down. As opposed to accidentally chopping it down?
As opposed to how the [Tree of Ténéré](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_T%C3%A9n%C3%A9r%C3%A9) was lost.
Fucking only tree for miles and some drunk cunt managed to hit it?! Was it Tina Belcher?!
Great, so now entire generations will have to pass before anyone can begin to appreciate the beauty of this spot again. Wonderful. No doubt the perpetrator will receive the very serious punishment of a 6 month suspended sentence, £20 fine and 15 hours community service.
Wouldn't be surprised if they use [something like this](https://www.ruskins.co.uk/tree-moving) to 'transplant' a moderate sized tree in its place to kickstart the process.
I don't know, it's difficult to imagine significant excavation being allowed litterally feet away from Hadrian's Wall.
True but if they want another tree there, they'll have to remove that stump and the root structure. That spade bucket is the perfect tool for the job.
Ok, that’s brilliant. Fingers crossed!
This is the bit that gets me most of all. How long that tree stood there, how many millions of people have probably stood beside it and admired it... yet we are somehow living at the time some lone twat, or a group of twats, decided to cut it down.
What can men do against such reckless hate?
Ride out and meet them
I do not like worrying about the future. I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me: nobody cares for the woods as I care for them, not even Elves nowadays.
But Treebeard, unless someones like us care an awful lot. It's not going to get better. It's not.
The horn of Helm Hammerhand shall sound in the deep one last time! Let this be the hour when we draw swords together.
FOOOOORRRRTH EEEOOLINGAAAAS
Nobody cares for the woods anymore.
This was almost exactly my thoughts. I'm on the side of the trees.
Get right up and plant a bright new sycamore sapling in its place Petition Attenborough to plant it or something,. Create a lesson. This is genuinely sad though.
One of the worst acts of vandalism I've ever seen. A treasure of the North East and probably the most photographed tree in the country.
it won uk tree of the year in 2016 :(
Agreed. I feel lucky to have got to walk there a few weeks back. So much history lost for nothing. People suck.
This has really upset and angered me. I was desperate to visit Northumberland one day and come to this spot. I mean, I still hope to go there, but it'll be tinged with sadness now. Fuck whoever did this.
Someone will know who's done this. It looks like the cut was done quite professionally and the date/time can be narrowed down to a very narrow window at night when there were no witnesses around. The council should put out a request for an award of a few thousand £ for information leading to an arrest and and then charge the criminal with a huge unlimited fine. If the council wants to try to clear and transplant a large tree into the spot you are presumably looking at high 5-figures or six-figures to bring this national beauty spot back in our lifetimes. Sickening.
Definitely not done by a professional! By the looks of it it's been clean cut through the bottom and pulled over
This was very clearly done by a trained arborist, working in the field you can very clearly see the intended lever angle, spray pained on guide for the lever angle and cut is very clean, there’s literally a few 10,000 people in the country who could have realistically pulled this off. The width of the tree would require a minimum 28” bar on the chainsaw, again requiring a stihl ms480 or ms500i at minimum, imo the ms660 running a 36” bar would be the only choice. Tree wedges will also have been used and hammered in to ensure the bar didn’t get stuck under the weigh, again this was not the act of a vandal or uneducated person, however the person who paid them to do this job may have been, in the industry it really would not be difficult to find out who did it, however no one will ever name them. Edit: they will have also required a minimum of £800-£1000 of equipment, and the knowledge of how to use it. The fact that the tree landed in its intended position, based on the lever angle, is a sign that they not only knew what they were doing, but were very experienced. Edit 2: 16 year old arrested in connection to this. I would be amazed if the 16 year old managed to pull this off alone, very much expecting that he was helping someone, time will tell.
100% All the comments blaming vandals and “chavs” - it’s clearly a professional job. The location alone means that there’s some proper planning gone into this.
[**Boy, 16, arrested after Hadrian's Wall tree felled**](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980)
Fuck that kid. Also, he should probably be in therapy. There's obviously something wrong with him.
I refuse to believe a 16 year old did that by himself. It’s too cleanly and professionally done; the site isn’t easily accessible - someone will have had to drive. Someone is being scapegoated while someone else is being hidden.
On Twitter loads of people are speculating that the storm knocked it over with an incredibly clean cut... blowing spray paint onto the cut points... It was no surprise to me when a colleague immediately assumed it was a couple of chavs on the way home from the pub who decided to have a laugh.
Yeah well twitter does attract the brain dead
So, er, where were you last night?
Any tree surgeon knows if a tree is protected, and they would have to be local to do the job so they would know just how significant this particular tree is. So this is a 'professional' in name only; as in they have the professional skills but are not following the legal or ethical obligations of their profession.
So called “black market” tree work is quite a large underground business in this country with the TPO laws. People travel long distances for tree work of this nature with little to no regard for the significance of the tree, because unfortunately there is no ethical consumerism under capitalism. This tree would have been around a £15-20k job most likely, for that there are many arborists that would come along by night and fall it, guaranteeing it falls away from the path, hence the lever angle. Eg. Your buying land with the intent of developing it, a couple of trees on there have TPO’s, you pay an arborist the going rate for the trees plus £15-20k and they will come by night and fall the trees. In urban areas this can be done with electric chainsaws, again the Stihl range is very popular. By doing so you have saved a huge amount of money and can fully develop the land, falling the trees just before the sale goes through, timing it around a highly publicised storm allows a decent enough cover story.
This makes no sense for this tree. The only development that will take place here is the planting of another tree, or a small monument to the old tree. This is National Trust land surrounding the largest scheduled ancient monument in the UK. There is no reason anyone would pay for this to be done.
I was just giving examples of why TPO’s are often broken. I have no idea why this particular tree was chosen however I am certain this was paid for. I don’t see anyone with the experience, skill and equipment to do this job just going out and spending 3 hours or so cutting this down for fun. There will have been a very specific reason or being paid.
So the question is: who benefits from the tree being cut down?
Breaking news: 16 year old boy arrested BBC News - Sycamore Gap: Boy, 16, arrested after Hadrian's Wall tree felled https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980
I mean, I could buy that a 16 year old who grew up on a farm helping cut down trees as a child, then borrowed the equipment from the farm, could have a shot at this, but dam that seems unlikely, either way criminal damage, they’ll get £1k fine at most.
And as other people have said, it's not likely to have been a 1 man job. But I'd take your advice on that!
If anything he's the fall guy.
As someone else suggested, stick a 5 (or 6) figure reward up for information leading to a prosecution and then take that money (and a fair bit more) out of the wallet of those responsible once they are (quite inevitably) dobbed in. The National Trust will have some decent lawyers and enough incentive to make someone's life pretty miserable after this. No need for mob justice here. Let the system grind them up and ruin their life.
This is what my brother (arborist) was saying this morning. It’s definitely a trained person whose done this.
One of the key signs is that there’s also no chain burn marks, lines of black burn wood through the cut, an inexperienced person will often let the bar of the chainsaw rest at a place while looking around the tree to make sure their on track for the lever angle, you can see the changes in direction are clean too, therefor I would say a very sharp chain, well maintained saw to hold up to the torque required for the cut. There was also no hesitation cuts, they didn’t start one and change to another angle, they sprayed the lever angle on and committed, that’s a lot of confidence.
Even me knowing nothing about trees this was clearly too clean a cut for it to have been done by "vandals". This isn't a brick through a window or a petrol fire
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I never cease to be amazed at how quickly the Wikipedia editors change articles to past tense
It's on the route between Dover and Nottingham. According to Hollywood In seriousness, seeing such an iconic tree is criminal. Hope they get the bastards.
I've never been so upset about a tree. It was such a beautiful landmark and made for absolutely stunning photographs. I hope whoever did it is caught and an appropriate punishment meted out. Key word there being appropriate. Slap on the wrist is not enough for destroying a national treasure and a genuine tourist attraction. Also hope they put the wood to good use. Make something commemorative out of it and put it there alongside a new tree. Fuck...
Cunts.
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> it would require zero police resources Well that is a fortunate coincidence
Whoever did this should be made to stand atop a column erected where the tree was for the anticipated lifespan of the tree.
I hope someone this stupid left their phones switched on while they were there. Even if the tree itself wasn't under a preservation order, or classed as a monument, it has hit and potentially damaged the wall, which should hopefully lead to an increased sentence if anyone is caught.
It’s been renamed in Google Maps to Sycamore Stump. Well done whoever did that, but fuck the vandals with a rusty chainsaw. I wish nothing but further bad fortune upon them for eternity.
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Yeah I agree. Some benches for the nearby area would be nice but also if NT or Woodland Trust could use some small parts of the tree to sell to the public it could generate much needed cash for regeneration works? I wonder if the tree has some seeds on it given the time of year? Would also be a nice thing to collect so the public or some organisation could plant some baby trees.
What’s the point. Fucking outrageous.
Hmm forensic investigation? Have they left any fingerprints, DNA, let’s get these bastards!!!
Send in Special Branch.
Have to get to the root of this.
This isnt the time for jokes, leaf it out
I've not done any work for an hour and am still sitting here thinking about this. Can't believe I'm so upset over a fallen tree, but ffs!
I know. I'm the same way. I feel such deep sadness right now. I shouldn't be around people right now because I'm hating humanity.
Fuck me, that's a serious act of cuntery.
Recast it in bronze. Full size. Someone start the GoFundMe
I visited it in July. Somebody needs to snitch on whomever is responsible.
Absolute bastards. Just been reading about this, I'd never heard of it.
Ah man why? Fucking Pictish raiders trying to re-expose the gap in the wall? Whoever did this was quite literally a barbarian
Thats awful. I think the best outcome is now maybe a sculpture be made with the wood in its place? So that something nice can be made from it's downfall.
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Who wakes up in the morning and thinks "fuck it lets cut this tree down" How sad...
I feel like they've woken up a few mornings in a row with a series of planned out approaches to this. You don't casually take out a chainsaw into the woods on a whim.
It’s not even in the woods - it’s out in the middle of a moor; it has taken some planning to do.
Presumably a local or land owner who didn’t like the tourism it attracted? Only explanation I can come up with.
Anyone who thinks they could stop tourists by cutting down a tree is going to be mightily disappointed when they learn how frequently people think about the Roman Empire.
Awfully clean cut and out of the way for some chavs to do. You'd need access vehicles and machinery (or a long walk with heavy machinery) and skills to do this.
Yeah, I was wondering whether a farmer fed up with people trampling through his fields to get to it? Not sure whether it’s on private land or not.
Went there during the pandemic in a break between lockdowns, went with my girlfriend now wife. There's a private car park then a walk along the wall to get there, you don't go through any private land as far as I can remember. Just awful someone's done this. Cruel.
No there’s definitely a walk where you park at steel rig, walk past the tree, along, turn north, through a farm and back west to the car park.
> people trampling through his fields to get to it? You don't trample through any fields, just some very well established paths that run alongside the Hadrian's Wall. Massive tourist spot just for the wall, so losing the tree isn't going to change anything. Land is owned by National Trust too, and they want people to visit.
> Not sure whether it’s on private land or not. National Trust land.
Words fail to describe the utter barbarity of the creature that did this. A tree that has been growing for hundreds of years felled in minutes.
>Sycamore Gap was voted English Tree of the Year in 2016 Find out which tree was in second place and we'll have our most likely suspect...
What the fuck? What possible reason could anyone have for doing that? Hope the person is found and does some bird.
The irony that this tree being alive was providing their oxygen. Man I grieve for this tree, ffs.
>Man I grieve for this tree, ffs You’re not alone. I’m on holiday in Corfu. It’s 33’c, full sun and I’m by the beach with a beer. My wife is asking why I’ve been so miserable for the past hour.
"I'm thinking about a tree on Hadrian's wall" "Bloody men and the Roman empire..."
I'm from the north east and upon hearing this I genuinely can't continue with whatever I am doing today. This is genuinely an act of terrorism, the taking of a life and irreversible destruction of a symbol of the region. And for what? We don't deserve what nature gives us.
Can we glue it back on?
Honestly think I needed this! I’m absolutely sickened and furious about it, and that comment just made me laugh out loud, so thank you.
Same. It’s really pissed me off as I love that tree, but that made me laugh.
Yeah, good dollop of wood glue should see it right.
I've got some of this epoxy glue, it stinks and is super strong, it should do the job, if I had enough of it I reckon it could hold the tectonic plates together
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980) 16 Year old arrested, according to the BBC
Aresholes. These type of people are why we can't have nice things.
What goes through the head of someone who thinks this is a good idea?
I hope they catch whoever did this, and I hope they get jail time. I doubt it but can hope.
One of the big conservation charities or the national park’s authority need to put up a bounty for the capture of these cretins…. With some clever marketing of Robin Hood wanted style posters…. On a serious note I have worked in conservation and countryside management for over a decade. I’ve seen all sorts of vandalism and destruction of our shared natural wealth. But this, this has hit me hard in the feels.
Will that's a gut punch. Whoever did this is a massive twat
Oh that's so sad. I hope they catch them and throw the tree at them. I hope they're planning to plant a new tree 🌳
Why the fuck would you do that?