British authorities arrested a teenage boy after he supposedly cut a famous tree, which was considered a landmark at Sycamore Gap, deliberately.
The centuries-old tree stood alone in a dramatic dip in the Northumberland, England, landscape beside Hadrian's Wall. It was considered the region's most-photographed tree as it drew visitors from afar and even appeared in the 1991 film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves."
Sycamore Gap Tree
But now, after the incident, all that was left of the famous tree was a stump, which marked the end of the beloved landmark's life. On Thursday, the Northumbria Police said they arrested a 16-year-old boy suspected of "deliberately felling" the tree.
In a statement, law enforcement officials said they were not naming the suspect. They noted that they are keeping an "open mind" given the early stages of the investigation into the incident. North Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll said on X, formerly known as Twitter that people have had their ashes scattered around the Sycamore Gap tree, as per the Washington Post.
He added that people even proposed to their partners in the area and said that he and his family had picnics there. Police tape surrounded the fallen tree and stump on Thursday. The Northumberland National Park Authority also asked the public not to visit the site amid the investigation.
In 2016, the Woodland Trust named the Sycamore Gap the English Tree of the Year. Whenever night fell, the tree would cast a striking silhouette against the horizon as it grew along the 73-mile stone wall built in AD 122 by the Roman Army. The latter marked the Roman Empire's northwest frontier, which is a role that it kept for three centuries until the end of Roman rule on the island.
Google Maps already changed the name of the iconic site to "Sycamore Stump" by Thursday afternoon. The National Trust, a UK heritage conservation charity that helped look after three, noted that it was shocked and desperately saddened by the incident. It noted that it worked to understand exactly what happened and what can be done moving forward.
Investigating the Alleged Act of Vandalism
A spokesman for the Northumbria Police said that the teenage suspect was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage but was cooperating with the investigation. Supt. According to BBC, Kevin Waring described the Sycamore Gap tree as a "world-renowned landmark," adding that its loss caused significant shock, sadness, and anger in the local community and beyond.
Waring added that they are appealing to the public for any information that could help the investigation, saying that they should let authorities know if they heard anything suspicious. He said that any information, whether small or insignificant, could prove crucial to the efforts.
The northeast general manager at the National Trust, Andrew Poad, said that the Sycamore Gap tree had been an important and iconic feature in the landscape for nearly two centuries. He said that the tree meant a lot to the local community and to anyone who visited the area, said CNN.
