London (AP) – There is a hole in the heart of the movable hills of Northern England.
A magnificent tree of Sikamam, which once sat symmetrically between two hills along the wall of Adrian, was mysteriously fell more than a year and a half ago, causing unbelief and disaster for those who consider it an almost sacred place.
“We are still devastated by this,” said Catherine Cape, who manages a small guest cabin nearby. “I can’t walk past it. … I just don’t like to look at the space there.”
Cape will be among those who pay attention this week when prosecutors at the Newcastle Crown court begin to present their case on Monday against two men accused of removing the famous Sycamore Gap tree and damaging the ancient wall.
39 -year -old Daniel Graham and Adam Caruders, 32 -year -old, pleaded guilty to two charges of criminal damage. Prosecutors said the value of the tree exceeded £ 620,000 ($ 826,000) and the damage on the wall was estimated at 1100 pounds ($ 1.466).
The two -week test, originally planned to start in December, was postponed because Graham was ill.
Prosecutors did not say what evidence they had or what they inspired the suspects to cut off the worshiped tree.
Prosecutors to cut a tree is rare and the potential for any time of prison for such a crime – not to mention that the maximum penalty for penal damage is 10 years behind bars – it is probably unprecedented, said lawyer Sarah Dodd, who specializes in the law of trees.
“I do not think that anyone has a sentence to detention for the illegal tree outburst so far in the UK,” said Dodd, who examines it and discussed the issue with colleagues. “This is on the table because of the weight of the situation. And when I say gravity, I think the value also shocked the nation.”
The tree was far from the largest or the oldest in the UK. But the way in which the graceful canopy of the tree filled the saddle in the hills along the ancient wall, built by Emperor Adrian in 122, to protect the northwestern border of the Roman Empire, attracted generations of followers.
The tree became known after being introduced in the 1991 Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: The Prince of the Thieves and was a big draw for tourists, landscape photographers and people who click selfies for social media.
“I have never made as many conversations as I had the difference in Sikamor,” said Dodd, who plans to attend the process as an opportunity for once in a career. “Everyone knows about it. It has captured hearts or attention from the whole of the United Kingdom, even people who are not really interested in trees or wouldn’t even even think.”
The herbaceous spot on the wall was the place of the first kisses, the wedding offers and the place where the ashes of the loved ones were scattered.
Cape went to the tree on the first dates with her future husband. They later watched their daughter taking their first steps there. And after her mother and sister died in 2020, Cape met with her son-in-law and nephews there when they could not gather indoors during the Covid-19 lock.
Before the tree is cut off, about 80% of the inquiries at the main center of visitors to the Northumberland National Park were from people who plan to walk to the tree, said the CEO of the Park Tony Gates after the tree was cut off.
“The part of the tree from our Northumbrian identity. This is something that everyone grows up for, knowing,” Cape said. “For the people in the villages around the tree that live near the tree, it was a source of great pride.”
The Sikamor was removed with a crane and taken to a national storage property. A section of the trunk came out at the center for visitors to the park last year and the seeds of the tree that were used to grow saplings are donated for planting around the United Kingdom
After a while, the tree itself can grow back. Dozens of shoots have germinated from the stump.