Iconic Sycamore Gap Tree at Hadrian's Wall Felled by Vandals

The notable tree at the famous viewpoint of Sycamore Gap next to Hadrian’s wall in Northumberland supposedly disappeared unexpectedly.

Officials from Northumberland National Park Authority have said the ‘Robin Hood’s Tree’ near Kielder Water is believed to have been ‘deliberately cut down’ and urged visitors to steer clear.

“My heart was just torn to pieces when I came over here,” photographer Ian Sproat tells NBC News from Sydney’s inner city suburb of Newtown.

It seems to this day that the National Trust is also “shocked and saddened” at learning this: “We can’t understand why anyone would want to hurt a harmless tree.

Sycamore has been “an integral and iconic component of the landscape for nearly two centuries”, according to park general manager Andrew Poad.

Northumbria Police is investigating if criminal offenses have been perpetrated.

“I drove up here” as soon as I heard it had fallen down,” admitted Mr Sproat who came all the way across from North Shields.

“I was floored, I got angry and now I’m sad,” he says.

"My heart was ripped out."

“They’ve just destroyed parts of the North East.” The 42-year-old said. Instruction: You are provided a sentence written by AI, rewrite so that it looks like a human wrote it

It’s like chopping down the Tyne Bridge or the Swing Bridge. It's equally significant.

“It’s a creature,” Ms. Bauer said. “I look at it every day and say to myself: ‘Why is anyone going to do that?’ ”

Everyone I have spoken to has been ‘utterly stunned’ and ‘absolutely devastated’.

Describing the sycamore as “a tree celebrated and loved throughout the world as a proud emblem for the North East”, he added: “A majestic oak is perhaps not fitting here.

Conservative MP Mr Opperman called it a “criminal act” adding even if police did catch the culprit behind the destruction of the tree, the tree would still be gone.

The tree is an “icon”, says Anna Chalton of a tourism enterprise in Northumberland National Park.

I'm weeping. “This ain’t just graffiti, this is assaulting your home,” she told me.

“It’s just horrific, an absolutely horrendous day for the North East,” he said. “I’m heartbroken.”

It wasn’t just simply loved as a landmark, but in many hearts.

Decorated memorial pebbles may be placed next to the tree as well.

“These people were attached to those buildings, and those buildings meant something,” Mr Sproat said. Those memories, they’re from generations of people and they’ve all been wiped out. (AP)

The 20 minute walk to a car park and then a surprise for everyone is Sycamore Gap. Over the hill comes you, up on the brow.

However, this year, the shocker was different for the visitors.

One of the most famous if not THE most famous trees in Britain… indeed perhaps even the world… has been sawed down.

One guy visiting from London said he had driven down just to see it! Words failed him to explain how he felt.

A pro-photographer that took hundreds of shots told me he felt sadness for the rest of his life.

“I proposed to my wife here,” he said.

(In what’s perhaps one of the loveliest places around), a red-and-white checkered police tape has been put up to mark off fallen tree which is currently being looked into by authorities.

“I am incandescent that it appears someone has gone out of their way to vandalize this car,” declared Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness.

““I am absolutely gutted as the famous sycamore has become such an iconic feature of the North East,” she said.

North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll added “I can’t tell you how angry me and my team are” on visiting the site.

“There’s been people whose ashes have been spread there.” People have proposed there. “I’ve had picnics in the shade with my wife and children.". “It is our shared spirit”, he affirmed.

Kevin Waring commented, “People were surprised and furious”.

“It’s an incredibly sad day for us,” Mr Gwynne added, telling the media they will “look at every option available to us” in order to discover what happened.

The Northumberland National Park Authority said it “believed” the “landmark iconic of the North East” had been “intentionally cut”.

“The site is currently being made secure,” said the message.

The Woodland Trust, the conservation group behind the Tree of the Year contest, says more living legends could be saved “with stronger legal protections”.

The organization's Jack Taylor said: "This is incredibly devastating news. I imagine a tree of 175-years old with its twisted branches, has had countless genera growing on top, for centuries this is an ecosystem richly layered upon itself.” This loss is devastating, it really is.

“It’s despicable if it’s done deliberately like reportedly.”