Two men prosecuted for brutally cutting down ‘Britain’s most beautiful tree’

Daniel Graham (38) and Adam Carruthers (31) are suspected of brutally killing Britain’s most beloved tree last September: close to the ground, with the chainsaw, straight in half. On Tuesday, the British Public Prosecution Service announced that it would prosecute the men criminally. Graham and Carruthers are both from the Cumbria region, in the northwest of England.

The Sycamore Gap Tree was located in Northumberland National Park in the northeast of England. Since that September day, only Sycamore Stump remains of the tree, under which many a wedding was celebrated and ashes were scattered, a reminder of what once was. Now with a dreary fence around it. It will be at least another 150 to 200 years before anything resembling Sycamore grows from the stump.

Until then, the British mainly want justice for the vandalistic act. A boy of sixteen and an older man in his sixties were arrested soon after the incident, but were also released. Then the two thirty-somethings came into view. They were released on bail, but are now being prosecuted. According to police, they also damaged part of the nearby Wall of (Emperor) Hadrian, a protected heritage site that is two thousand years old.

Robin Hood Tree

Local residents heard nothing strange that early September morning. Storm Agnes raged across the plains of Northumberland National Park – where that one tree stood out in the smooth landscape – drowning out the chainsaw and the dull crash that must have followed. But once the British got wind of the event, the country was too small.

The tree was loved by hikers, photographers and stargazers, and featured in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). In 2016, Sycamore was voted Britain’s most beautiful tree, with prize money going towards ensuring its survival and protecting its roots. These had become exposed due to the continuous influx of visitors.

The nature of the sawing surface and the razor-sharp saw marks left the police in no doubt. “A perpetrator with considerable sawing qualities” had wreaked havoc here. The two suspects will stand trial in Newcastle on May 15.

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