People travelling to see the iconic Sycamore Gap Tree have been urged to stop touching its stump and removing pieces by the National Trust, as investigations continue
Tourists who have travelled to pay their respects to the iconic Sycamore Gap Tree after it was cut down this week have been urged to stop touching its stump and removing pieces from it.
The tree on Hadrian’s Wall was felled overnight between Wednesday and Thursday and police launched an investigation. A 16-year-old male who was arrested in connection with the incident has now been released on bail pending further enquires, Northumbria Police has said. A second man in his 60s was arrested on Friday evening.
Since the felling, a number of people have travelled to the area to pay respects to the cut-down tree that was once a key part of the landscape. But the area around the tree was today fenced off and a chalked blackboard sign from the National Trust was put up, warning people to stay away and “respect the tree”. It reads: “Please respect the tree and avoid touching it or removing pieces from it. We will find a way to commemorate it. Thank you.”
It comes as police are probing a new theory that the tree could not have been cut down by just one boy – and made a second arrest. Former lumberjack Walter Renwick was evicted from his farm, with police searching the property as part of their investigation.