'Absolutely horrendous': Famous tree at Hadrian's Wall in U.K. cut down overnight

When a friend told Ian Sproat that the famed Sycamore Gap tree had fallen down, he hoped it was nothing more than a joke.

But as he arrived at the historic Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland county, near the England-Scotland border, he was devastated by what he found.

"It was the heart of Northumberland," the local photographer told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "I didn't think for a second that it would be down … It was horrendous, absolutely horrendous." 

At first, he thought the wind may have taken it down from where it stood near the wall — itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But as he got closer, it was clear to see the cut was intentional — leaving behind only a stump in the spot it once proudly stood.

The tree had fallen sometime on Wednesday night. Police said they believe the felling of the tree was "deliberate," and arrested a teenage boy on suspicion of causing criminal damage, according to reporting by the BBC.

Sproat says the community is struggling to understand how this could have happened.

"There's a mix of emotions, to be honest with you. I don't know if somebody has done it, like for a bet or done it out of malice.… Nobody seems to understand why anybody would do this," said Sproat.

Tree of fame

The tree appeared in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner and was even named tree of the year in 2016. 

For Sproat, it was part of what got him into photography. One of his friends introduced him to the tree and he took photos of it against the night sky.

"To me, it was an escape from the real world. I struggle with stress … so to get out with my camera into the dark skies and just forget about the real world is just really important to me," he said.

As he stood by the tree on Thursday, Sproat watched sight seers and locals mourn the damage done, and read messages on rocks that had been left there by visitors over the years.

"People were just breaking down into tears. There was loved ones like sitting, sitting around, hugging and with obvious memories of, like, generations gone by," he said, adding that even the police he spoke with were visibly shaken.

A lost piece of history

"We are deeply shocked at what appears to be an act of vandalism," said Andrew Poad, general manager of the National Trust, a non-profit conservation group in the U.K.

"The tree has been an important and iconic feature in the landscape for nearly 200 years and means a lot to the local community and to anyone who has visited the site." 

Sproat isn't sure what happens next, but he's hoping to find some way to honour the legacy of the great tree. He said there's already been a discussion about raising money so they can do that.

"It would be lovely to think we could save some part of the tree, just so people can visit, you know, a part of what once was," said Sproat. 

"I don't know, maybe take a sapling off the tree to create a little bonsai tree or something, you know, something to just keep the tree alive."