The tree stood for nearly 150 years before Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers set out on dark and stormy night to carry out what a prosecutor called a “moronic mission” to fell the majestic sycamore, which crashed down onto Hadrian’s Wall.
Graham, 39, and Carruthers, 32, were each convicted of two counts of criminal damage — one for destroying the tree, the other for damaging the ancient wall.
Justice Christina Lambert sentenced the pair each to four years and three months in prison during the hearing at Newcastle Crown Court.
The tree, perched in a saddle between two hills, had been known to locals for its scenic setting, but became famous after a cameo in Kevin Costner’s 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.” It drew tourists, lovers, landscape photographers and those who spread the ashes of loved ones. It was voted English “Tree of the Year” in 2016.
The illegal felling in Northumberland National Park on Sept. 28, 2023, caused instant outrage and news quickly spread beyond the ancient wall built by Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122 to protect the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire.
It wasn’t Britain’s biggest or oldest tree, but the sycamore was prized for its picturesque setting, symmetrically planted between two hills along the wall that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“This iconic tree can never be replaced,” Andrew Poad, general manager of the heritage and nature conservation charity National Trust, said in a statement read in court by a prosecutor. “It belonged to the people. It was a totemic symbol for many; a destination to visit whilst walking Hadrian’s Wall, a place to make memories, take photos in all seasons; but it was also a place of sanctuary."
One man wielded a chainsaw while the other captured the felling on grainy video on a cellphone. Prosecutors couldn’t say who cut down the tree and who memorialized the senseless act, but both were equally culpable.
