CNN
–
Two men were each sentenced to four years and three months in prison to steal the landmark Sycamore tree in northern England.
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Calzars, 32, were convicted in May of two counts of criminal damage, according to the UK’s PA Media News Agency.
The pair was sentenced Tuesday at Newcastle Crown Court in northeast England.
The tree stood in a sentinel on the wall of Hadrian, built in Rome for more than 200 years, before being “deliberately cut down” in September 2023.
Upon ruling, the judge said the pair acted “pure bravery” and “funny media coverage” and their criminal acts led to it.
Prosecutor Richard Wright KC told the ju judges during the trial that Graham and Calzars, who traveled more than 40 minutes from their Cumbrian home, were engaged in a “moronic mission” to cut down the landmark.
Christopher Atkinson, the chief prosecutor in the case, of the Crown Prosecutor’s Office, said that both men had lied ironically about the part they played, and that they denounced each other for “the heartless destruction of this historic landmark.”
Tree cutting caused a pour in public sadness in September 2023, creating a global headline.
“There was an overwhelming sense of loss and confusion all over the world,” according to PA Media, National Trust manager Andrew Poad said in a victim’s impact statement read out in court.
Northumbria police and crime commissioner Susan Dangworth reiterated these feelings in a statement, saying, “The immeasurable cutting of the trees at Sycamore Gap has caused and distressed rage, upsetting and among many who had held Northumberland’s iconic trees in their hearts.”
“Today, those who tried to destroy the heart-warming symbols of Northumberland’s nature are accountable,” she added.
The beloved Sycamore Tree in Northumberland National Park became famous to millions of people around the world when it appeared in the 1991 blockbuster film Robin Hood: The Prince of Thieves.
The tree, known as the “Sycamore Gap,” was located on a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built 1,900 years ago to protect the Roman Empire’s most distant northwestern frontier.
The Sycamore Gap is considered one of the UK’s most photo shoot trees and was voted in 2016 as a British tree.
In response to the ruling, a National Trust spokesperson said: “As the Sycamore Gap Tree logging research has concluded, we are deeply grateful for the thousands of support messages we have received from around the world over the past 18 months.
“The sense of perpetual loss reflects the strong bond between people and our natural heritage,” the spokesman added.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Jack Guy and Issy Ronald contributed the report.
