Sycamore Gap tree took more than a century to grow and less than 3 minutes to fell, prosecutors say

Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, shining over the Sycamore Gap tree, on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, England, July 3, 2016. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP, File)

LONDON — It took well over a century for the Sycamore Gap tree to spread its limbs into the elegant canopy that made it a beloved site saddled between two hills along the ancient Hadrian’s Wall in northern England.

It took less than three minutes to cut it down in an “act of deliberate and mindless criminal damage,” a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

Grainy black and white video of the tree’s dramatic felling on Sept. 28, 2023 in Northumberland National Park was shown to jurors in Newcastle Crown Court as the trial of two men charged with cutting it down got underway.

A single person was silhouetted against the unmistakable shape of the tree as a whining chainsaw tore through the rings that marked each year of the tree’s life. The shaky recording showed the branches swaying in the wind and then the tree began to teeter, followed by a loud cracking sound as it crashed onto the stone wall.

Until Tuesday, the tree’s tumble hadn’t been shown publicly, but discovery of the fallen tree reverberated across the U.K and caused a national uproar.

Defendants leave trail of evidence

Prosecutor Richard Wright said that the the defendants had embarked on a “moronic mission” to fell the tree and left a trail of evidence including video and photos connected through metadata to Sycamore Gap and appeared to boast of their feat the following day as news of the tree’s demise traveled around the globe.

Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, have pleaded not guilty to two counts each of criminal damage. Prosecutors said that the value of the tree exceeded 620,000 pounds (around US$830,000) and damage to the wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was assessed at 1,100 pounds (nearly US$1,500).

The tree was far from Britain’s biggest or oldest. But its picturesque setting along a stretch of the ancient wall built by Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122 to protect the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire had attracted generations of followers.

The tree became famous after being featured in Kevin Costner’s 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves,” and was a big draw for tourists, landscape photographers and people snapping selfies for social media.

Friendship frayed after charges were brought

Graham and Carruthers were experienced with chainsaws and spent a lot of time together, Wright said. But their once-tight bond hasn’t survived their indictment.

Graham has denied being involved, saying his phone and vehicle were used without his knowledge, Wright said. He has implicated Carruthers and another man.

Carruthers denies having anything to do with the crime and said he wasn’t there.

“Each of them now seems to be trying to blame the other,” Wright said. “That once close friendship has seemingly completely unraveled, perhaps as the public revulsion at their behavior became clear to them.”

Defence lawyers didn’t present opening statements, but could do so later in the trial, which is expected to last about two weeks.

Wright said that one of the men had expertly worked the chainsaw to fell the tree while the other used Graham’s phone to shoot video and photos of the act and the fallen tree.

As they returned to their homes afterward in Graham’s Range Rover, Carruthers received a video of his young child from his partner and replied, “I’ve got a better video than that,” Wright said.

“At the time of that text conversation, the only people in the world who knew the tree had been felled were the men who had had cut it down,” Wright said. “And the only people in the world who had access to the video were the men who had filmed themselves in the act of cutting down the tree: the defendants Graham and Carruthers.”

‘They are loving it, they’re reveling in it’

As news broke about the tree later that day, the two sent texts and exchanged excited voice messages.

“I think it’s gonna go wild,” Carruthers told Graham.

“It’s gone viral. It is worldwide,” Graham said.

It wasn’t just a discussion about the news of the day, Wright said.

“They are loving it, they’re reveling in it,” Wright said. ”This is the reaction of the people that did it. They still think it’s funny, or clever, or big.”

Carruthers forwarded a Facebook message by a man who had criticized the tree vandals as “weak people.”

Graham ridiculed the man’s comment, asking if he realized how heavy stuff is, though he used an expletive in place of “stuff.”

Carruthers replied that he’d like to see the man “launch an operation like we did last night. … I don’t think he’s got the minerals.”

Missing pieces of investigation include ‘trophy’ from tree

Wright said that a combination of cellphone data, surveillance cameras and license plate readers indicated Graham’s phone and car headed toward Sycamore Gap.

A wedge of wood that was cut from the tree to drop it in the proper direction — as a professional lumberjack would do — was taken from the scene as a “trophy” and never recovered, Wright said.

Photos and video on Graham’s phone showed a wedge of wood in the back of his vehicle. A forensic botanist said there was a “very strong evidence” the wood in the photo was a chunk of the Sycamore Gap tree.

While police found chainsaws where both men live, they haven’t found the one used to cut down the sycamore. Nor can they definitively say who operated the saw and filmed the act.

“We do not need to do so,” Wright said. “Any person who intentionally assisted, encouraged or caused the damage to happen is as guilty as the person who actually used the chainsaw. These men were in it together from first to last.”

Brian Melley, The Associated Press