Iconic UK Sycamore Gap Tree Felled by Vandals Growing New Shoots

Thought Question: Think of a place in your community that feels special to you. What makes it worth protecting?

Plautus is an ancient Roman playwright. He once said: “Patience is the best remedy for every trouble, and the only true answer to a fool.” That answer applies to a destructive act by two British vandals. They felled an iconic tree straddling a wall the Romans built nearly 2,000 years ago in ancient Britain.

The Sycamore Gap Tree was cut down in 2023. Two miscreants did it for no good reason. It's now growing new shoots as tall as three feet. That brings hope to those sad to see it destroyed. 

“These flourishing shoots are really encouraging and show that the special measures we’ve taken ... are paying off,” said Andrew Poad in a written statement. Poad heads the National Trust at Hadrian Wall.

The Trust is keeping humans and big trucks away from the tree. That's to help it grow back.

The tree stood along Hadrian’s Wall. It was a symbol for all of Britain for more than 100 years. The Emperor Hadrian built the wall in the 2nd century to keep tribal people in the north from attacking the Romans in the south. It eventually became a symbolic dividing line between England and Scotland. 

The tree was 150 years old. The vandals who cut it down are currently serving four-year prison sentences for the crime. 

“Clearly it will be many years before the Sycamore Gap tree regains its previous majesty,” the Times of London wrote. “But the steady hopefulness being committed to that far-off day is the ultimate rebuke to those who, in that nihilistic nocturnal outing, so cruelly felled it.” 

Photo of Sycamore Gap notice from Wikimedia Commons.