I suppose they thought it might be fun.
It was a tree, not unlike most others, it’s most differentiating feature being its location. But that location was kind of important, in that where it was is what made this particular tree as famous as it was.
It was the kind of tree that people travelled to get to, not to climb it, and not to linger in its shade, although people have certainly picnicked there. No, this tree was the subject of photography, as in people liked to take pictures of it, and pictures of themselves in front of it.
Proposals were made in front of it. Marriages performed. The ashes of loved ones scattered.
This is the Sycamore Gap Tree, a single, lonely, yet majestic tree that occupies a particular geographic feature along which the ancient wall of Hadrian passes. That would be the Roman emperor Hadrian, who had a defensive wall built around 120 AD to keep the “barbarians” of what is today modern Scotland out of the lands controlled by the Romans, lands roughly corresponding to modern day England. The wall exists entirely within England, so it doesn’t actually serve as the present-day border between the two nations. Rather, it was built where the width of the main British island was at its narrowest.
The tree was interesting because it was smack dab in the middle of a topographic depression, which made out stand out extraordinarily, and that’s the reason that the tree, along with the wall, are designated UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers are two local men who have each been sentenced to four years in prison for taking it upon themselves to cut down the 200 year-old tree just so they could see how everyone would react. They were absolutely delighted with themselves and their “work,” making sure to follow media and social media coverage of the act. It was then that they realized that they were likely the only two human beings anywhere on the planet who had even the slightest happiness about what had happened to that tree.
Fast friends at the time, the two of them are no longer on speaking terms, probably because of the fact that they both pointed the finger of blame at the other fellow, although it was clear that they were both involved.
On the way home from the cut, Carruthers got a video from his girlfriend that featured their 12 day-old son, but the told her he had an even better video, then showed her the one that Graham took of Carruthers taking the tree down with a chainsaw. Graham’s Range Rover was geo-located to be at the tree, and then returning from the tree to his home some forty minutes away. The dark, grainy video footage of the tree being taken down was found on Graham’s cell phone.
There is absolutely nothing that hints at any motive other than a desire of the two to do something outlandish that would capture everyone’s attention, then sit back and watch how people reacted.
Now, with four year sentences, it appears that they’ll have plenty of opportunity to revel in their accomplishment, that is of course hoping that hardened British criminals don’t have special sexual plans for guys who chop down famous trees for a laugh.
Although they’ve been sentenced to four years in prison, the two will likely be freed in two years, since they’ve been in pre-trial custody since being arrested in September 2023. That should give one all the perspective one might need around how famous and well-loved this tree actually was, since perpetrators aren’t often held in pre-trial custody unless their crimes are particularly heinous. So I’d have to assume that the prevailing sentiment was one of outrage, so perhaps the pre-trial custody was as much for their personal safety as anything else.
The two were actually facing jail terms of up to ten years in prison, so obviously over in England, they take trees pretty seriously.
Particularly the famous ones.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 