The felling of the Sycamore Gap tree, isolated between two hills in a spectacular landscape in northern England, has sparked grief and anger across the UK.
This two-hundred-year-old maple tree stood very close to Hadrian’s Wall, which was built in Roman times to prevent barbarian invasions and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 2016 it was voted “Tree of the Year” and appeared in Kevin Costner’s “Robin Hood” in 1991.
Northumbria Police, who are investigating this “deliberate act of vandalism”, announced on Friday evening that they had arrested a “man in his 60s” in connection with the incident.
” In good health “
A 16-year-old teenager who was arrested on Thursday and suspected of “harm” was released on Friday morning “pending further investigation”.
“I hope this second arrest shows that we are taking the situation seriously and that we are committed to finding those responsible and bringing them to justice,” Rebecca Fenney-Menzies, a Northumbria police officer, was quoted as saying in a statement.
On Thursday morning, walkers discovered that the tree, one of the most photographed in the country, had apparently been chopped off at the stump with a chainsaw.