Two men in their 30s were charged on Tuesday in connection with the chopping down last year of the 200-year-old Sycamore Gap tree, which stood in a dip along Hadrian’s Wall in northern England.
The beloved sycamore’s mysterious felling, which took place on a stormy September night, led to an outpouring of sorrow, anger and confusion at the senselessness of the act: Why would anyone cut down one of Britain’s most iconic trees?
Two men, Daniel Graham, 38, and Adam Carruthers, 31, from Cumbria, England, were charged with damaging both the tree and part of Hadrian’s Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to the local Northumbria Police.
Hadrian’s Wall, about 100 miles southeast of Edinburgh and near England’s border with Scotland, was built by the Roman Army after the emperor Hadrian’s visit to Britain in A.D. 122.
“We recognize the strength of feeling in the local community and further afield the felling has caused, however we would remind people to avoid speculation, including online, which could impact the ongoing case,” Detective Chief Inspector Rebecca Fenney, the senior office on the case, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Persons:
Daniel Graham, Adam Carruthers, Hadrian’s, “, Rebecca Fenney
Organizations:
UNESCO, Heritage, Northumbria Police, Roman Army
Locations:
England, Cumbria, Northumbria, Edinburgh, England’s, Scotland, Britain