Boy, 16, arrested after felling of famous Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian’s Wall
Boy, 16, arrested after felling of famous Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian’s Wall
Police in north of England say teenager arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage
A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage in connection with the felling of the 300-year-old Sycamore Gap tree in the north of England.
Officers arrested the teenager amid an outpouring of sadness over the destruction of the landmark, which has been a feature of the site at Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland for hundreds of years. The boy is in custody and assisting officers with their inquiries, Northumbria police said on Thursday.
Locals and national park authorities said they were “struggling to see the logic” in the destruction of a sycamore which had long become “part of this area’s DNA” and had gone through thousands of changes of seasons.
The tree, believed to have been about 300 years old, was made famous when it appeared in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner.
There is no logic, only destruction.
I’m really not a big fan of the teenage phase some go through where they think it’s fun to be edgy and crap on other people’s hobbies and interests.
i was that teenager and in hindsight i was an asshole but i think it helped me grow out of being an asshole faster because i became so self aware of my insecure and defensive tendencies
RULE MANY DONT UNDERSTAND, one thing being bad/good does not abstain another thing from being bad/good
everything is made for someone and if you dont enjoy it someone else does.
except linux users can suck a dick
Teenage angst and contrarianism is it's own form of (backwards) logic.
Make him replant sycamore trees, then work for the forest druids/nearest national park during summer vacations. His spirit sounds troubled.
Before allowing him into national forests to work in them to pay off a debt I’d probably make sure he has no matches on him first
I dislike you 16-year old boy, Sycamore Gap Feller.
I dislike you as I dislike Brock Turner, Convicted Rapist.
What a bizarre and completely unnecessary comparison to make..
(to be clear - cutting down a tree, however pointless and destructive, is in absolutely no way shape or form comparable to raping women)You mean Convicted Rapist Brock Turner, now going by the name of Convicted Rapist Allen Turner, who was sentenced to six months but only served three for what his father called (and I quote) "twenty minutes of action"? That Convicted Rapist Brock Allen Turner?
[I awaken as a shadow of my former self, a figment of the late-night scroller you met so long ago. I return to you now, humbled and broken by time and nature, and in my defeat I must profess that In my state I find myself unfit to take up the weight of the banner which I swore to bear.]
Yes, the very same Brock Allen Turner, convicted rapist of an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, who only served three months.
Punish the kid by forcing him to plant 300 new sycamore saplings but using a toothpick instead of a shovel.
Punish him by making him watch Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves 300 times.
No need to be so savage... he's just a kid!
Cut out his heart with a spoon!
In a row?
"IT'LL HURT MORE!"
Even this boy can find the weaknesses in a suit of armor -_-
Also today some people got arrested for putting a hole large enough to drive a truck through in the Great Wall of China. Today is bad day for ancient walls.
they got arrested days ago
He’s just a pissed off, angsty, angry teenager. Make him plant 300 trees as community service in the presence of arborists and maybe he’ll learn something good for the rest of his life. Jail won’t help this tree, our world, or him.
Just look at that tree:
That even looks too good to be real. Probably one of the best places for such a tree to grow.How do you just decide, "Yep, let's cut it down!" here? Did he take drugs? Like, I mean, all of them.
He's jeffried.
Education. Please educate your kids.
This isn't education, this is mental illness
Pathologizing each mistake or problem won't resolve them. You're searching for excuse, or pathologizing will be used as excuse. We will end with the same situations again and again. Education effectively fights these behaviors without excusing. But, I agree on one pathologization. The society is sick of a lack of education. This is widely due to the socio-economic situation of many of us due to some economic dogma and ideology.
The punishment should be that he becomes Johnny Appleseed and has to spend the rest of his life crossing the country planting trees
16-year-old boy [...] struggling to see the logic
What logic?
had gone through thousands of changes of seasons [...] 300 years old
300 years is only 1200 seasons.
Insane question, could the tree be saved by splicing it back into the trunk? Like you can do with small trees?
If they had found it right after it had been felled, they might have had a slight chance if they already had a crane nearby and ready and a firehouse.
Trees are basically a huge ring of tubes to carry water/sap/ tree blood, a thin layer of living wood between the bark and the dead wood inside from earlier growth. The tree relies on those tubes always being full of water because it doesn't have any way to push the sap around actively. The water evaporates from the leaves, buds, any part of the tree not covered by bark, and this pulls water from the bottom of the tree up to replace it. (Technically the water moves up due to capillary action of the close molecular interactions of the H2O and the tiny size of the tubes so it doesn't need a lot of "pull")
But if these tubes get cut, an air bubble gets in and that flow is interrupted. It's difficult or impossible for a plant to recover flow in that tube. If the cut is kept wet, it can keep air from blocking the tube, which is wide you are advised to trim flower stems under running water and never let them dry out if you are keeping flowers in a vase.
If a tree loses most of all of these tubes to air bubbles, it can't really recover. This is why "ringing" a tree kills it and also why there is a strict limit on the number of times you can tap a Maple Tree for syrup.
Not OP, but thanks for taking the time to thoroughly answer a question I had as well.
Awesome answer, thanks!
No. Not even remotely possible for a tree that age and size. Even as an experiment with planning ahead, it would fail.
I'm fine with a lenient punishment. If it turns out he did it to get attention, I'm happy to grant him that wish by an exceptionally harsh punishment, so much so that more little shits wanting to make society worse and being rewarded for it, will see that the risk is too high. Don't go into female only carriages in Japan, don't cut down trees, don't do dumb stunts against homeless people, etc.
Half the time it's paid actors, but when it's not, throw the book at them, or force extended community service to remedy the harm they do. Financially penalise any monetary gain made from such stunts. Etc.
Believe it or not, straight to jail.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Officers arrested the teenager amid an outpouring of sadness over the destruction of the landmark, which has been a feature of the site at Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland for hundreds of years.
Locals and national park authorities said they were “struggling to see the logic” in the destruction of a sycamore which had long become “part of this area’s DNA” and had gone through thousands of changes of seasons.
The tree, believed to have been about 300 years old, was made famous when it appeared in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner.
Supt Kevin Waring of Northumbria police said on Thursday: “This is a world-renowned landmark and the events of today have caused significant shock, sadness and anger throughout the local community and beyond.
Tony Gates, the chief executive of the Northumberland national park authority, said staff at the visitor centre had been in tears after arriving in the morning and finding the famous tree felled.
The Twice Brewed Inn, a stone’s throw from the site, has offered a £1,500 bar tab to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person who carried out the offence.
The original article contains 822 words, the summary contains 196 words. Saved 76%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Not a small trunk and a pretty clean cut. Did he bring a chainsaw?
Article says chainsaw, yes.
Aha, thank you :)
Isn't this George Washington's origin story?
No that was just some bullshit tree nobody cared about.
No one said it was his origin fact.
Without detailed knowledge about tree logging, that looks to be too clean cut, when working in a storm.
From the article:
"Locals said they heard nothing during the night due to high winds from Storm Agnes – and woke to find the tree split from its stump."
I would not call that a "split".
You also need some heavy gear to fell that kind of tree, the dia of sycamore tree trunk is wide. The blade would stuck in the saw line due to the inclination of the tree. Also you would need a vehicle to get all gear there plus extra fuel if required.
Think middle of night, during a storm, also you don't need a storm to be windy there.
Really 16 year old only?
Can anything be done? I'm not botanist, but is it not possible to graft the tree back onto its stump? Or maybe use that "rooting gel" stuff I've heard about to make the tree grow a new root system? I know that it's possible to clone plants by taking a branch off and replanting it; can't at least one of these things be done? Are they just going to give up that easily?
Not a botanist, but my house is a jungle of tropical plants and I’m pretty experienced at propagating plants. Sycamores can be propagated, but not easily and not from the stump. You need soft wood cuttings from the top of the tree and those cuttings need to be taken in spring. Even in the best case scenario, it’s still really hit and miss.
You can propagate plants at this time of year via air layering, but it’s pretty complicated and again the success rate is poor. Most importantly, air layering needs a living tree to work. This tree is essentially dead.
The only thing they might be able to do is get a small young branch to root and plant it back in the same spot. It would technically still be the same tree but it would be a tiny little branch.
If you don't know what you're talking about, just don't comment. You can't fucking give up if there isn't any solutions.
To the person that asked, I'm sorry this person happened to you.
Wow way to be an asshole for no reason. There's nothing wrong with asking a question cause you're curious to learn.
Dick.
Handle yourself, doctor.
The tree, believed to have been about 300 years old
Well at least now they can count the rings and know for sure
recognised the tree from the thumbnail instantly before reading the details. dickhead took Guy of Gisbournes orders too literally
This kid could be our first president!
Y'all out for blood because one kid took down one tree but nobody does shit about all the mass deforestation for profit.
You can be mad at both simultaneously. It's not either/or.
It's also easier for people to be upset about this because it's one person who can be caught and punished instead of having to literally dismantle a huge, profitable segment of capitalism.