Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/05/01/two-charged-with-chopping-down-famous-tree-in-england.html
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Finally
ETA:
Called it
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They should have erected a black scrim.
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and furthermore, this (apparent motive), harmonizes with another recent BoingBoing post: Japanese town installs black scrim to block view of Mount Fuji
(hat-tip to @GutRot who beat me by [‘Get Smart’ fingers] this much)
(do these folks hate local business and tax revenue? …maybe they do [shrug])
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The trust removed the tree and was hopeful that about a third of the seeds and cuttings it collected could later be planted.
Jeez, it’s a sycamore. If it’s only a third of them that could work I’ll be amazed. The property next to ours has sycamore trees on it, and I kill hundreds or maybe even thousands of the little bastards attempting to grow in our garden, every year.
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I have a feeling these two (alleged) criminals (or whoever it really was, should they be found not guilty) didn’t expect the combination of genuine public grief for a beloved tree and the cruel performative populism of current English politics that will make sure that the maximum allowed punishment is being pursued.
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I can see how it could become really old really fast, that said chopping down a tree that’s not yours no matter if its a tourist attraction or not is a horrible thing to do. Glad these guys got busted.
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I have heard speculation online that the tree was not loved by local farmers who were sick of the tourists tramping over their land.
I’ve been there. There’s a path from the nearest car park directly to the Gap, part of the path that leads the entire length of the Wall. I can’t imagine there’s ever just been a hoard of tourists wandering aimlessly through the fields. Furthermore, it’s not like it’s rich agricultural land and people are trampling valuable crops - it’s sheep-farming upland. It does sound typical of a certain kind of farmer though. “Just give us our subsidies and let us pursue our dying industry in peace!”
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they’re gonna figure out how to knock that mountain down so they can remove the scrim.
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Graham and Carruthers? They’re Border Reiver names. Still causing trouble in that region I see.
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Hold my beer!
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Not a patch on Liz Truss’s lettuce.
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Just pop it into the air fryer, it’ll be just fine.
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i’m curious how they caught them, it’s my understanding absent dna the cops are remarkably bad at solving crime and i dont think this is a situation there would be any… leavings.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were community tip offs. This was a really shitty thing to do, after all.
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maybe they bragged?
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Punishment fits the crime?
Plant a tree for every hour the one that they cut down has lived.
Twice.
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I’m kind of surprised at @beschizza’s blasé description of what is was one of the more famous and picturesque trees in the GB, a country [1] which maintains a List of Great Trees. The Sycamore Gap tree was the UK 2016 Tree of the Year for spaghetti’s sake!
[1] don’t start
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That said, I can recognize (but not respect) locals’ frustration. I used to live in Grenoble, and there was a very recognizable landmark oak that sat alone at the top of a hill, which viewed from the city can be seen standing out nobly in front of the mountains behind.
It is on private land, in a field surrounded by No Trespassing signs, which were obviously roundly ignored (how do I know, you ask?).
I’m sure the landowner there is similarly frustrated but would cause some level of public outcry should the tree suddenly disappear.
