Sycamore Gap - tree has been felled!

[NepheliLoux]

Looks like someone has deliberately felled the famous tree in Sycamore Gap. I can’t believe anyone would do such a thing. I don’t normally get emotional but this has really upset me. It’s absolutely irreplaceable.

Why on earth would someone do that? Look at it, it was beautiful 😥

That was obviously deliberate. That would have taken quite a while to get through with a chainsaw. It was a big trunk.

This is devastating.

This is pure speculation but I think it looks like some is missing. The stump looks bigger than the trunk lying next to it. I thought perhaps someone took some slices to sell on. People would pay a fortune for that

There is white spray paint marks around the top of the stump so it's definitely planned

If it turns out that it’s not technically illegal, I hope someone meets out some vigilante justice. Absolutely disgusting and unbelievably selfish. Devastating for everyone.

The only reason that I could think of is that sycamore poisoning in animals has been rife this past year. We have horses and spent all of spring and early summer pulling sycamore seedlings out of the ground because so many horses have died from eating them.
Really reaching here but I wonder if its some sort of revenge against the tree?

Unbelievable. It was such an iconic tree. What kind of bastard does that?

Absolutely shocking, we're staying in the area at the moment and hiked to it on Monday, it was beautiful.

This has made me so so angry and sad.

I think this is the fear. ATM we don't know if it's technically illegal.

I'll be getting my pitchfork ready mind

This is awful.

It is shocking. If it had been struck by lightning, and brought down that way, it would have been just as sad, but acceptable. But to deliberately fell a healthy, and iconic tree for no apparent reason is just beyond belief

I'm really sad

I have such lovely memories of walks that passed that tree, including a friend taking me there on a horrible February day when my dad died.

I am devastated and furious in equal measure about its destruction.

Farmers still own land in national parks. National Parks aren’t actually owned by the government/crown. It’s just areas designated by the government to prevent further development.

So it could have been a grumpy farmer fed up with hikers on his land. Doubt it though.

I spotted this on Twitter this morning: what a waste!

The trunk looked to be in fine fettle.

I hope they are able to season and use the wood for some benches/furniture for one of the Hadrian's Wall sites.

I hope they catch the culprits.

Surely legality comes down to who owns the land? It’s illegal to cut down a tree on someone else’s land (but you can cut down branches that overhang your land)

Sure but the police have said they need to first investigate if it's a criminal act so it must not be immediately obvious.

Fair enough. Pretty sure the land immediately adjacent to the wall is owned by the National Trust though.

As far as I know, no one has claimed ownership of the land or the tree

If the tree is protected it doesn't matter who owns the land. You can't even prune a protected tree without the appropriate permission.

Yes you’re right it’s National Trust land.

When they catch him and after his prison sentence he should be made to plant trees every weekend for the rest of his life.

I'd imagine if it was protected they would have said by now.