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The Herald Scotland
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Two men found guilty of cutting down beloved Sycamore Gap tree
"The Sycamore Gap has been an iconic natural landmark in the North East of England, bringing immeasurable joy to those visiting the area," the Crown Prosecution Service, a national agency that works with police and courts to keep the public safe, said in a statement. "In just under three minutes, Graham and Carruthers ended its historic legacy." 'Princess Diana' moment: Why UK is heartbroken by a grisly murder whose victim was a tree For many, the Sycamore Gap tree was an icon of remembrance, making memories and marking time. The tree was planted in the late 1800s and estimated to be almost 200 years old when it was felled. It stood at the center of a pronounced dip in a landscape of rolling hills alongside Hadrian's Wall. The tree was a place for first kisses, marriage proposals, birthday celebrations and intimate ceremonies. It won Britain's National Tree of the Year competition in 2016 and its scenic location was a popular spot for hikers, photographers and stargazers. It featured in the 1991 movie, "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," starring the actors Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman. In the movie, a young boy is pursued by soldiers with dogs for stealing the Sheriff of Nottingham's - played by Alan Rickman - livestock to feed his starving family. The boy hides aloft in the Sycamore Gap tree's branches. His pursuers take out axes to cut down tree before he is saved by Robin of Loxley (Costner) and his trusted bodyguard, friend and adviser, Azeem (Freeman). A national treasure "This wasn't just a tree," said Sarah Dodd, a British lawyer who specializes in tree law. "It was a national treasure." Steve Blair is the manager of Twice Brewed Inn, a family-owned pub and hotel where walkers often gathered for a meal and cozy pint by the fire before making the picturesque one-mile walk to the tree. He said he knew "one gentleman who sprinkled his wife's ashes at the tree's base because it was such an important place for her." When the tree was felled, it landed near where her ashes were sprinkled. "He finds that really offensive, you know?" Graham and Carruthers, who denied cutting the tree down, will be sentenced on July 15. They were found guilty after an eight-day trial at Newcastle crown court. It took the jury five hours to reach unanimous verdicts. The judge in the case said they would face a lengthy jail sentence. The prosecutor, Richard Wright, described the crime as a "moronic mission" and the "arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery."
USA Today
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'Arboreal thuggery': Two men found guilty of cutting down beloved Sycamore Gap tree
'Arboreal thuggery': Two men found guilty of cutting down beloved Sycamore Gap tree Show Caption Hide Caption Arbor Day: What to know about the holiday celebrating trees Arbor Day began in Nebraska in the late 1800s. Here's everything you need to know about the holiday all about trees and nature. LONDON − A British court convicted two men of cutting down a tree in northern England that captivated hearts and minds and was made Hollywood-famous, in a "deliberate and mindless act of destruction." Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were convicted May 9 of two counts of criminal damage for felling the so-called Sycamore Gap tree on Sept. 27, 2023. The tree majestically stood in a grassy beauty spot near an ancient wall built by Roman Emperor Hadrian almost 2,000 years ago. "The Sycamore Gap has been an iconic natural landmark in the North East of England, bringing immeasurable joy to those visiting the area," the Crown Prosecution Service, a national agency that works with police and courts to keep the public safe, said in a statement. "In just under three minutes, Graham and Carruthers ended its historic legacy." 'Princess Diana' moment: Why UK is heartbroken by a grisly murder whose victim was a tree For many, the Sycamore Gap tree was an icon of remembrance, making memories and marking time. The tree was planted in the late 1800s and estimated to be almost 200 years old when it was felled. It stood at the center of a pronounced dip in a landscape of rolling hills alongside Hadrian's Wall. The tree was a place for first kisses, marriage proposals, birthday celebrations and intimate ceremonies. It won Britain's National Tree of the Year competition in 2016 and its scenic location was a popular spot for hikers, photographers and stargazers. It featured in the 1991 movie, "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," starring the actors Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman. In the movie, a young boy is pursued by soldiers with dogs for stealing the Sheriff of Nottingham's − played by Alan Rickman − livestock to feed his starving family. The boy hides aloft in the Sycamore Gap tree's branches. His pursuers take out axes to cut down tree before he is saved by Robin of Loxley (Costner) and his trusted bodyguard, friend and adviser, Azeem (Freeman). A national treasure "This wasn't just a tree," said Sarah Dodd, a British lawyer who specializes in tree law. "It was a national treasure." Steve Blair is the manager of Twice Brewed Inn, a family-owned pub and hotel where walkers often gathered for a meal and cozy pint by the fire before making the picturesque one-mile walk to the tree. He said he knew "one gentleman who sprinkled his wife's ashes at the tree's base because it was such an important place for her." When the tree was felled, it landed near where her ashes were sprinkled. "He finds that really offensive, you know?" Graham and Carruthers, who denied cutting the tree down, will be sentenced on July 15. They were found guilty after an eight-day trial at Newcastle crown court. It took the jury five hours to reach unanimous verdicts. The judge in the case said they would face a lengthy jail sentence. The prosecutor, Richard Wright, described the crime as a "moronic mission" and the "arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery."
ITV News
09-05-2025
- ITV News
How the 'moronic mission' to fell the Sycamore Gap tree was carried out
For more than a century the Sycamore Gap tree was revered as a thing of beauty in the dip beside Hadrian's Wall where it stood in the Northumberland countryside. People from across the globe would make the pilgrimage to this iconic landmark, popular for walkers, proposals and stargazers alike. The 'Robin Hood tree' got its break on the big screen in the 1990s in the Hollywood blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and was hailed the most photographed tree in the country. In September 2023, it was cut down. A jury at Newcastle Crown Court found Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers guilty on two counts of causing criminal damage to the tree, valued at £622,000, and £1,114 damage to Hadrian's Wall. This is the story of how the Sycamore Gap tree came down. The act At 10.02am on Wednesday 27 September 2023, a message was sent from Daniel Graham's phone to his friend Adam Carruthers saying: "Big storm tonight we might get onto storm damage get saws warmed up." That afternoon, Carruthers' phone is traced to cell sites as travelling from his home in Kirkbride in Cumbria, to Carlisle and then as far east as Haydon Bridge in Northumberland. Just a few hours later, at 5.20pm, a walker named Alice Whysall Price took what is believed to be the final photograph of the tree at Sycamore Gap still standing before it was felled. That night, at 10.23pm, a call was made between the phones of Carruthers and Graham lasting for one minute and 18 seconds. The prosecution believe this is the last contact between the pair before they travelled together to Sycamore Gap. Cell site data placed Graham's phone travelling eastbound on the A689 between Carlisle and Brampton. His black Range Rover, which he referred to as "the black pig", was also captured by a traffic camera in Brampton. At 11.41pm, Graham's phone 'detaches' from the network. This can happen if a device is turned off or switched to airplane mode. The prosecution argued that this had been done deliberately. Fifteen minutes later, a car was filmed on CCTV turning left past the Twice Brewed Inn and towards the Steel Rigg car park, a popular parking location for visitors to Sycamore Gap. At 12.32am on Thursday 28 September 2023, a video running to two minutes and forty seconds was recorded using Daniel Graham's phone. Metadata extracted from the media show it was taken at Sycamore Gap. The original version of the footage shows very little - it is pitch black. However the audio captures the sound of a chainsaw and, in the final seconds, the sound of a tree falling. Prosecutors said this showed the final moments of the tree at Sycamore Gap. Later, video experts at Northumbria Police would digitally enhance the footage making a figure visible to the right of the tree - and capturing the fall of the tree. A photograph was also taken on Graham's phone, which prosecutors said showed the outline of the felled tree. At 12.58am, the same CCTV camera at the Twice Brewed Inn captured vehicle headlights travelling in the opposite direction. An ANPR camera at Brampton once again picked up Graham's car travelling westbound towards Carlisle. Police enhanced the footage, which was removed from the phone of Daniel Graham. Prosecutors say it shows the final moments of the tree at Sycamore Gap before it was felled. The 'revelry' Just before 1.30am, Carruthers' partner sends him a video of their newborn baby being bottle fed. He tells her: "I've got a better video than that." Eight minutes later, the video of the tree being felled is sent from Graham's phone to Carruthers'. Two minutes later, Graham's phone reconnects to the network. At 2am, photos and two short videos are filmed in the boot of Graham's Range Rover. They show a piece of wood next to a chainsaw. That morning, the world awoke to the grim realisation that the famous tree at Sycamore Gap had been felled. At around 9.46am, police received a report of damage to the tree. The first officer to arrive on the scene, PC Peter Borini, described seeing "distraught" park rangers and bodyworn footage shows him ushering visitors away so he could put a cordon in place for investigations to get underway. This World Heritage Site was now a crime scene. As the story was carried by news organisations across the world, a message was sent from Graham's phone to Carruthers'. It read: "Here we go." Screenshots and messages were exchanged about the felling. In response to an image of the cut on the stump, Graham messaged: "Not a bad angle on that cut. Must have been a professional.' Links to media coverage continued to bounce between the pair. "It's gone viral," came one voice message between the pair. "It will be on ITV News tonight." The prosecution say this voicenote features Adam Carruthers talking about the 'operation' undertaken 'last night' The law catches up In the weeks that followed, two people - a 16-year-old boy and a man in his 60s - were arrested as part of the investigation, but they were later released without any further action. On 31 October 2023, both Graham and Carruthers were both arrested under caution. Both denied any involvement in felling the tree but four days later, following further investigation, the pair were arrested again. In April 2024, they were charged with causing criminal damage to the tree and to Hadrian's Wall itself. At the time the tree was felled, the pair were "the best of pals" as Graham would later tell the court. However, their friendship soon soured. Carruthers told the court that one night, Graham had been to see him at work and told him "I'm going to go my way and you're going to go yours – I believe you have been grassing on me." In August 2024, officers received an anonymous phone call blaming Adam Carruthers for the offence, alleging that the saws used in the felling of the tree had been returned to him - along with a wedge of the tree itself which was removed to fell it. The caller declined to give their name or leave a phone number but during a trial, Daniel Graham told the court it was he who had made the call. He also told the court he wished he had given Carruthers' name sooner. During the trial at Newcastle Crown Court, which got underway on Monday 28 April 2025, Graham said he was at his home the night the tree was felled. While he accepted that his Range Rover was driven to the car park nearest to Sycamore Gap and his phone was used to film the tree being felled, he said his co-accused had taken both. He told the court that hours after the tree had been felled, Carruthers had told him over the phone that he had been the one responsible and that later, Carruthers had arrived with his friend and a pizza . Carruthers said he was staying at home in his caravan with his partner and their newborn baby and that on the night the tree was felled, he had been repairing the roof of the washhouse. Following a ten-day trial, the pair were found guilty of two counts of criminal damage - to the tree and to Hadrian's Wall. Andrew Poad from the National Trust says those responsible are likely to face a lot of public anger over the felling of the tree Reflecting on the felling, Andrew Poad, from the National Trust, told ITV News recalled feeling anger in the aftermath. He said: "When I first heard that it had been deliberately felled, that was my initial reaction, it was anger. It completely changed the complexion of what happened then. "I would hope that they've seen and heard that huge emotional outpouring as well and what it's meant to so many people. There'll be a lot of people who'll feel a lot of anger around this." Harold Bowron, a neighbour of Daniel Graham in the village of Kirkandrews, said he was not surprised to hear of his involvement. He told ITV News: "I was surprised it was somebody from Kirkandrews. I couldn't believe that - when the word got round that is was Daniel Graham. "He just wasn't part of the community. He was an odd bod. And yeah, he could do a thing like this, I have no doubt at all."
The Independent
09-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
‘Bloody hell, that can't be': Moment ranger discovered iconic Sycamore Gap tree had been hacked down
For park ranger Gary Pickles, 28 September 2023 started no differently to any other Friday morning. The clock had not long gone 8am and the 55-year-old was sipping his first cup of tea of the day at his home in the village of Haydon Bridge when, suddenly, his phone pinged and an email popped up on his laptop. It contained a report from a farmer saying the Sycamore Gap tree had been chopped down. 'I thought bloody hell, that can't be' said the Hadrian's Wall path national trail ranger, who rushed to his car to drive to the west-to-east Military Road, running parallel to Hadrian's Wall, for sight of the tree, usually so famously perched in a sloping dip of the wall. 'I got to the gap, and it was empty,' he said. 'I thought 'Jesus' and I stopped to look at the fallen tree from the road before ringing up comms [communications team at Northumbria National Park Authority].' 'Shock is the way of explaining how I felt, a pang of sadness,' said Mr Pickles, who jogged to the scene of the crime and immediately sent pictures to the authority. Within hours, the tree's destruction was making headlines across the world. 'There was a sense of you're there and there is a job to be done,' he added. 'But when I drove past after, and the tree, which I was so used to seeing, wasn't there, that was when it felt quite difficult, quite hard. The tree had been there so long and meant so much to many, many people.' At the nearby pub, the Twice Brewed Inn, the alarm was raised by one of the workers who thought the tree had come down in Storm Agnes. A picture shared on Facebook by the pub, which brews its own Sycamore Gap ale, quickly went viral. 'I could tell it had been cut down,' said manager Steve Blair. 'There was the immediate element of surprise but then anger and question of like, 'who would cut it down?' The tree is as important as Hadrian's Wall, it's part of the scene, we were all really gutted.' Soon the world's media arrived. Reporters and photographers watched as conservationists worked quickly to graft living parts of the tree for future saplings, while surgeons cut the trunk down into sections for removal. Nationally, the story was met with an outpouring of emotion. The National Trust, which owns the tree, received thousands of tributes and messages. And then there was anger. Hairy Biker Si King, who grew up in County Durham, said those responsible had 'murdered a sentinel of time and elemental spirit of Northumberland'. Kevin Reynolds, who directed the Hollywood film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, in which the tree featured in one of the film's most famous scenes, said he was 'stunned', 'gutted' and 'furious', while comparing its importance to the Taj Mahal. A police investigation was hurriedly launched with each arrest stirring up fresh rumours and speculation that circulated for weeks. Finally, after more than six months, Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were charged with criminal damage to the tree. On Friday, the pair were found guilty of by a jury. The court heard how Graham, a ground worker, and Carruthers, a mechanic, had gone on the 'moronic mission', driving from Carlisle to Sycamore Gap armed with a chainsaw. While one cut the tree down, the other filmed it - before they drove away with a wedge from the tree inside their vehicle as souvenir for the criminal act. Neither claimed responsibility, and so no reason has been given for the destruction. Back at the pub, which had CCTV of the pair's vehicle shown to the jury in court, Mr Blair said he initially thought the tree's destruction would have a negative impact on business. But if anything, the publicity has helped keep the tills ringing. Its flagship Sycamore Gap ale, sold at £4.40 a pint at the bar, is its biggest seller and this year it emerged on the shelves at Sainsbury's stores. The pub now has more than 400 seats and has its first beer festival planned for August. Meanwhile, a fundraiser launched by the pub for the Northumbria National Park Authority tipped over £10,000 last year after an American visitor handed over more than £5,000. 'The only time I notice fewer people here is when it snows or we get a frosty morning,' said Mr Blair. 'But people still want to come to this section of the wall, they still come here to photograph the beautiful scenery. And you get people coming to see the tree stump.' It's a similar story at the nearby campsite of Herding Hill Farm, where manager Sue Humphreys enjoyed a booked-up Easter. It's a quieter spring so far, but Ms Humphreys hopes business will pick up at the AA Platinum Pennant site. 'People will still walk to Sycamore Gap, so it hasn't really had an impact on tourism,' she said. 'We all live in hope for a future for the tree, you can't let these people [those convicted] stop that.' The most popular route to the tree from Steel Rigg car park is a strenuous 30-minute walk. Last month, just ahead of the trial, there was a mix of hikers walking the section of the Hadrian's Wall and families and visitors coming to see the fenced-off stump. Observed clambering down from the steep banks either side of the gap, each person stopped to look at the tree stump, which now has several shoots coming from it, boosting hopes of a recovery - although growth will take several generations. Dozens of saplings are also to be planted across the UK while the largest section of the tree will be on display at The Sill visitor centre in Northumberland this summer. 'People still want contact with the tree,' said Rosie Thomas, director of business development at Northumberland National Park. 'What this final installation will offer is a space for people to come and reflect which is something the public told us they wanted.' Back at the stump of the Sycamore Gap tree, Sarah arrived from Durham to celebrate her 52nd birthday. Sat on a section of Hadrian's Wall nearby, she said she cried when she first heard about it coming down. 'It is a loss, it feels physical - to see it missing from the landscape for the first time was very difficult,' she said. 'But there's a lot of good work happening to keep its legacy going, it's what we all want, need, to see,' she added. James Schuiter, 47, from Michigan in the US, said: 'To see what it meant to people and the beautiful pictures before it was cut down, it's hard to know why anyone would want to cut it down - but they will not win.'
The Herald Scotland
04-05-2025
- The Herald Scotland
Why UK is heartbroken by 'Sycamore Gap tree' case
Eighteen months later, some in Britain are still heartbroken by the grisly murder, even though the victim was a tree. The defendants in the case - Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, from Cumbria, England - pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal damage when their trial opened on April 28. The trial is expected to last two weeks. Judge Christina Lambert told jurors the case was about a single tree chopped down by a chainsaw. She said they would need to set aside any feelings they might have about the "Sycamore Gap" tree if they were familiar with it. The oldest tree in the world? Meet these hidden tree gems. But the Sycamore Gap tree was no ordinary plant enclosed in bark and shedding leaves in a country that Adam Cormack from the Woodland Trust, a conversation charity, says has more ancient trees than the rest of Europe combined; more than 200,000, according to the trust's Ancient Tree Inventory database. A separate estimate by the University of Nottingham and the Woodland Trust suggests that the actual number of ancient and veteran trees, defined as those older than 150 years in age, in England could be between 1.7 to 2.1 million. "It might be down to what trees symbolize for us," Cormack said. "Endurance, longevity, history, heritage - all of those things are pretty intrinsic to the British national identity. Those ideas may not be unique to Britain. But they are strong here. We're a small island. We're surrounded by history everywhere we go." For many, the Sycamore Gap tree was a landmark and icon of remembrance, making memories and marking time. The tree was planted in the late 1800s and estimated to be almost 200 years old when it was felled. It stood at the center of a pronounced dip in the landscape alongside Hadrian's Wall. It was a place for first kisses, marriage proposals, birthday celebrations and intimate ceremonies. The tree won Britain's National Tree of the Year competition in 2016 and its scenic location was a popular spot for hikers, photographers and stargazers. "I know one gentleman who sprinkled his wife's ashes at the tree's base because it was such an important place for her," said Steve Blair, the manager of Twice Brewed Inn, a family-owned pub and hotel where walkers often gathered for a meal and cozy pint by the fire before making the picturesque one-mile walk to the tree. "When Sycamore Gap was felled it landed near where her ashes were sprinkled. He finds that really offensive, you know?" 'Act of vandalism': See photos of 200-year-old Sycamore Gap tree chopped down in England The inn in rural Northumberland long ago adopted a silhouette of the Sycamore Gap tree as part of its logo. Blair said it's not yet clear how the tree's chopping down will ultimately impact his business. However, in a reflection of the tree's enduring popularity as a destination he has a world map on the wall that visitors can put a pin in so he can keep track of from where, and how far, they've traveled. Blair thinks there's probably a pin in every single country. "A lot of Europeans. Massive amounts of Americans and Canadians. Samoa, China - all over," he said. People love trees: Saving 'Stumpy': How residents in Washington scramble to save this one cherry tree Sycamore Gap: 'Prince' of trees Sycamore Gap tree was also Hollywood-famous. It featured in the 1991 movie, "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," starring the actors Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman. In the movie, a young boy is pursued by soldiers with dogs for stealing the Sheriff of Nottingham's - played by Alan Rickman - livestock to feed his starving family. The boy hides aloft in the Sycamore Gap tree's branches. His pursuers take out axes to cut down tree before he is saved by Robin of Loxley (Costner) and his trusted bodyguard, friend and adviser, Azeem (Freeman). The National Trust, a heritage and nature conservation organization that manages the land around the tree, says that when admirers visited it with their children they would often try to replicate the scene from the movie where the boy hides out under its stunning canopy. "This wasn't just a tree," said Sarah Dodd, a British lawyer who specializes in tree law. "It was a national treasure." Dodd said that cases involving trees do reach local courts fairly regularly. But those cases tend to involve disputes between neighbors or acts of petty vandalism. She said this one was different because a criminal prosecution was being brought by the Crown Prosecution Service, a national agency that works with police and courts to keep the public safe. Dodd described the Sycamore Tree gap investigation as "significant," with at least 15 witnesses, including from park rangers, and 40,000 pages of evidence. Arbor Day 2025: What to know about the holiday celebrating trees It also includes cellphone data and messages, a license plate number caught on CCTV, a "trophy" wedge taken from the Sycamore Gap tree that has been examined by a forensic botanist and the grainy video shown to jurors which shows a figure who appears to cut at the base of a large tree, which then falls over with a big crash. One of the men accused of chopping down the Sycamore Gap tree - Graham - told police he had been framed as part of a feud. The other - Carruthers - said he didn't know how to operate a chain saw. Dodd said that a criminal prosecution in Britain for cutting down a tree is extremely rare, as is the potential for any prison time for such an offense. If the pair are convicted, and receive the maximum penalty, they could face 10 years behind bars. She said the case was probably unprecedented from a legal standpoint and "pretty extraordinary." Sycamore Gap: 'Princess Diana' moment Edward Hope agreed with that characterization. He is a retired cop who has established a second career as a content creator on YouTube. Hope makes videos about the outdoors, politics and local history in and around Newcastle, a city in northern England that is about a 45-minute drive to the Sycamore Gap tree. He has been documenting the incident as well as following the court case. Sapling: White House replaces 200-year-old 'Jackson Magnolia' Hope said not everyone in Britain has been "shocked and outraged" by the tree's destruction. One of his recent videos titled, "Sycamore Gap Trial - Why It's NOT 'Just A Tree,'" alludes to that. Hope said comments on his videos are "roughly split" between those seething with anger over the felling and those who don't see what all the fuss is about and question whether a high-profile prosecution is a good use of taxpayer money. Hope isn't one of them. "When I woke up and heard about the Sycamore Gap tree I got the same feeling as when I heard that Princess Diana was killed in a traffic accident. Waking up to the news, my jaw hit the floor," he said, referring to when the British royal beloved by many was killed in car crash in a Paris underpass on August 31, 1997. Her death sparked an outpouring of public grief in Britain and around the world. Her funeral was watched by more than 2 billion people. Remembering Diana: What happened when millions of stiff upper lips trembled with grief Still, the Sycamore Gap tree was far from Britain's oldest tree. According to the Woodland Trust that is a yew tree named "Fortingall," believed to be 2,000 to 3,000 years old. It stands in a churchyard in Scotland. The Visit Scotland tourist board says it may even be as old as 9,000 years old, making it one of the oldest living things in all of Europe. A tree's attempted murder In recent weeks, another case of an ancient tree meeting an early end made headlines in Britain. The CEO of Toby Carvery, a pub and restaurant chain, apologized after a 500-year-old oak tree was cut down outside one of its restaurants in north London. The company said it mistakenly believed the felling was necessary to prevent an accident. But local authorities had described the tree as a "fine specimen" with centuries to live. Nor is Britain the only country to grapple with a bizarre murder case involving a tree. Logging: Trump's plan to cut down more trees faces a host of problems In May 1989, the attempted murder of a 500-year-old tree known as "Treaty Oak" in Austin, Texas, by a man named Paul Stedman Cullen gripped the nation and made worldwide news. Prosecutors argued that Cullen sought to poison the tree using a herbicide as part of an occult ritual to dampen his infatuation with his counselor at a drug clinic. Cullen was convicted of poisoning the tree and sentenced serve nine years in prison as well as pay a $1,000 fine. He served three of those years. When he was released, Cullen moved California. He died in 2001. The tree survived and today stands at the northeast corner of Baylor Street and 6th Street in Austin. Blair, the manager of the Twice Brewed Inn, said the logo for the business he manages would not be changing though the Sycamore Gap tree no longer exists. He said that when he visited the spot where the tree used to stand the last week of April he saw some small green shoots on the side of the stump that indicated it was still alive. He said he's not sure the Sycamore Gap tree will ever grow back to be the tree it once was, that if it does it will likely take several hundred years. Blair said he hopes visitors will still come to look at what used to be there. In terms of the legal case, he said the most important thing is to find out why anyone would chop down such a special tree.
