Overview

• Two men aged 32 and 39 received four years and three months each at Newcastle Crown Court for willful vandalism in the illegal felling of the Sycamore Gap tree in September 2023.
• Judge Christina Lambert cited the act’s “significant social impact” and the collateral damage to the UNESCO-listed Hadrian’s Wall in imposing the prison terms.
• Prosecutors presented footage of the defendants filming their “idiotic mission” with a chainsaw and boasting about the destruction, while their lawyers described it as drunken stupidity.
• The nearly 200-year-old Sycamore Gap tree had become a global cultural symbol and a filming location for the 1991 movie Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves.
• The National Trust has propagated dozens of seedlings for future planting and unveiled an interactive art installation at the site to commemorate and engage visitors with the lost landmark.