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Boy arrested on suspicion of felling tree 'could not have done alone'

29/09/2023

Boy, 16, arrested on suspicion of felling Sycamore Gap tree ‘could not have done it alone’ as it was a ‘professional job, not the work of someone who has only just left school’, friends say

Friends of the teenager say he could not have felled the 300-year-old tree alone
The 16-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage

A teenage boy arrested on suspicion of felling the Sycamore Gap tree ‘could not have done it alone’ as it was a ‘professional job’, friends have claimed.

Friends of the 16-year-old, who has been released on bail by Northumbria Police pending further investigations, claim that the felling of the beloved tree was ‘not the work of someone who has only recently left school’.

The 300-year-old tree at the Sycamore Gap was mysteriously felled on Wednesday night, prompting hundreds to share their memories of the Northumberland landmark.

The tree, along Hadrian’s Wall, was made famous by Kevin Costner‘s 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Friends of the teen say he is an ‘easy target’ for suspicion and that he has ‘suffered bereavements in his family that led to some difficult behaviour at school’.

The 300-year-old tree at the Sycamore Gap was mysteriously felled on Wednesday night

Police are investigating and have arrested the 16-year-old on suspicion of causing criminal damage

Forensic investigators from Northumbria Police examine the felled Sycamore Gap tree

T he tree, along Hadrian’s Wall, was made famous by Kevin Costner ‘s 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

‘He was getting into fights and was warned about his behaviour many times’, one said. ‘When people were looking around for someone to blame he would have been an easy target but he could not have done that alone.

‘The tree was cut down by someone who knew exactly what they were doing, it was a professional job, not the work of someone who has only recently left school. I wasn’t surprised to hear that the police had released him.’

John Pattison, the farmer and tenant of Hotbank Farm on land owned by the National Trust where the tree grew, has described the incident as a ‘sad day’.

‘When I first realised it had gone down I thought it had been blown over by the wind’, he said. ‘I never imagined at that point that anyone had deliberately gone over to saw it down. The roots had become exposed because of all the people who come to visit.

‘I had been worried for the tree because the base would not have been as stable as it once was.

‘It’s sad to see a thing that has grown for so many years disappear from the landscape.

‘We have a long history in this area and like everyone else we’re wondering who would have done such a thing and why. Everyone seems to have a theory but no one knows for sure.’

The landmark was the backdrop for countless marriage proposals, childhood walks and a place to scattered loved ones’ ashes, and its felling has prompted a huge outcry online

Experts said the tree was in excellent condition before it was attacked

The location was iconic, with photographers travelling from across the world to photograph the tree against its stunning background

There has been an outpouring of grief for the historic tree

Newman played Wulf in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, when he was aged 15. He said the Sycamore Gap tree was a magical place

Boy arrested on suspicion of felling tree 'could not have done alone'

Boy, 16, arrested on suspicion of felling Sycamore Gap tree ‘could not have done it alone’ as it was a ‘professional job, not the work of someone who has only just left school’, friends say

READ MORE: Druids warn that Sycamore Gap tree was a ‘link between above and below’ worlds but has now become a ‘symbol of fragility’