Two men used a chain saw to deliberately reduce the famous Sycamore Gap tree in the northern part of England in a “Moronic Mission” a year and a half ago, and the logging was shot on a mobile phone, the prosecutor told northeast England on Tuesday.
The tree, a favorite milestone stood by the Hadrian wall, a UNESCO World Heritage area, was found illegally a decrease in September 2023.
The trial for the two defendants in the case – Daniel Graham, 39 years old, and Adam Carruthers, 32, and both from Cumbria, England – opened on Tuesday at the Newcastle Crown Court, northeast of England, less than an hour -by -car from where the tree stands.
Men have admitted that they are not guilty of two charges of criminal damage. Presenting the case against the defendants on Tuesday morning, prosecutor Richard Wright called on a “Moronic Mission” and an “act of deliberate and stupid criminal damage”.
He told the judges that Mr Graham and Mr Carruthers had led to the area by the nearby town of Carlisle late September 27, 2023, to cut the tree deliberately.
Mr Wright said the tree had been cut with a saw in a matter of minutes, using methods that showed specialized logging knowledge and that the act had been on Mr Graham’s phone.
The prosecutor told the court that a wedge cut off the tree had later been converted next to a chainsaw in the trunk of Mr Graham’s Range Rover. “This was probably a trophy taken from the scene to remind them of their actions,” Mr Wright said, “the actions they seem to have revealed.”
Prosecutors said the evidence gathered by the defendants’ phones suggested that they had shared social media positions and international news reports after the discovery of the tree.
The prosecutor’s office said Mr Graham, who owns a construction company and Mr Carruthers, who worked in maintenance and real estate engineers, were friends and had cut another big tree together a month earlier.
The charges of criminal damage they face are related to the tree and the part of the Hadrian wall – the Roman fortification extending to 70 miles in northern England – collapsing.
The test is expected to continue for two weeks. When the men were charged in April 2024, the senior official of the case, Rebecca Fenney’s chief inspector, asked the public not to be on the internet for the crime or accused.
“We recognize the power of feeling in the local community and further caused logging,” he said in a statement. “However, we would remind people to avoid speculation, including online, which could affect the current case.”
Many had mourned the destruction of the tree, an image that was on the wall of Hadrian, which the Roman army built in the second century.
The tree has long been an indicator and the memory manufacturer: a place of wedding and memory suggestions, a guard in photos of a family vacation in life, stuck in refrigerators around the world. He also appeared in the 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”.
He was almost 200 years old when he was illegally reduced.
In August, the Rangers saw some sprouts near its base, an unexpected sign of new life, and the seeds and the genetic material gathered by scientists from it last year began to develop. The National Trust intends to give 49 plants next year to spread the heritage of the tree.
This number is deliberate, according to Andrew Poad, general manager of the Hadrian Wall, who is partially managed by national confidence. The tree was 49 feet tall when cut. And the plants will be about one foot tall when given to their recipients.
