Honestly, it’s hard to wrap your head around why anyone would do it.
The Sycamore Gap tree wasn't just some random plant in the middle of nowhere. It was a landmark that felt permanent, tucked into that perfect dip in Hadrian’s Wall like it was put there by a set designer for a movie. Which it was, technically—Kevin Costner famously ran past it in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Then, in September 2023, during a nasty storm called Agnes, someone took a chainsaw to it.
For months, the UK was on edge. People were devastated. There were theories about disgruntled farmers or bored teenagers. But eventually, the police zeroed in on two men from Cumbria: Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers.
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The Night of the "Moronic Mission"
Calling it a "mission" makes it sound like a heist, but the prosecution at Newcastle Crown Court preferred the term "moronic."
On September 27, 2023, while the wind was howling and most people were tucked into bed, Graham and Carruthers drove about 30 miles from their homes near Carlisle. They weren't there for a hike. They brought a professional-grade chainsaw.
The logistics were surprisingly calculated. They didn't just hack at it; they knew what they were doing. Both men had experience in tree surgery and groundworks. They timed the felling so the tree would crash down over the ancient Roman wall, and they even took a "trophy"—a wedge of the trunk that vanished and has never been found.
What’s truly bizarre is that they filmed it.
A video found on Daniel Graham’s phone showed the whole thing. It wasn't an accident. It wasn't a drunken mistake where they stumbled into a tree. It was a deliberate, three-minute act of destruction.
Two Friends, One Chainsaw, and a Lot of Lying
The dynamic between Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers is almost as strange as the crime itself.
Before the felling, they were "best of pals." They worked together, split cash 50/50 from tree jobs, and spoke every single day. Graham, a 39-year-old groundworker, and Carruthers, a 32-year-old mechanic, seemed inseparable.
But as soon as the police started knocking, that friendship evaporated faster than a puddle in July.
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The blame game
- Daniel Graham eventually tried to pin the whole thing on Carruthers. He claimed he only "went along with it" and that it was Carruthers’ "dream" to cut the tree down.
- Adam Carruthers played the "I was too drunk to remember" card. He told a probation officer he’d polished off a bottle of whisky and everything was a blur.
The judge, Ms Justice Lambert, wasn't buying any of it. She pointed out that felling a tree that size in a storm with that much precision isn't something a blackout-drunk person does. It takes skill. It takes coordination.
The Trial and the Verdict
When the trial finally hit the headlines in May 2025, the scale of the damage became clear. We aren't just talking about a dead tree.
The prosecution valued the sycamore at over £622,000. That number reflects its age, its iconic status, and its "amenity value" to the public. On top of that, the tree caused over £1,100 in damage to Hadrian's Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has survived for nearly 2,000 years.
The jury didn't need much time. After just five hours of deliberation, they found both men guilty of two counts of criminal damage.
Why did they do it?
This is the part that still haunts people. Why?
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There was no profit in it. They didn't get paid. There was no political statement. In court, the motive was described as "sheer bravado." They did it for the "thrill" of the act and the secret satisfaction of watching the world react.
The next day, they were sending each other voice notes about how the story was going "wild" and "viral." They were revelling in the chaos they caused.
The Final Sentence
In July 2025, the hammer finally dropped.
Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were each sentenced to four years and three months in prison. The judge made it clear: they are equally culpable. It didn't matter who held the saw and who held the phone. They planned it together, they executed it together, and they lied about it together.
While they sit in a cell, the National Trust is trying to salvage a legacy. They’ve grown "Trees of Hope" from the seeds of the original sycamore, which are being planted across the UK. It’s a nice gesture, but for the locals in Northumberland, the gap in the horizon is still there.
What we can learn from this
If you're following this case, the main takeaway is that "heritage crime" is being taken much more seriously by the UK courts than it used to be.
- Digital footprints are permanent. The video on Graham’s phone was the smoking gun. Even if you delete things, forensic experts are incredibly good at finding what you tried to hide.
- Public sentiment matters. The outpouring of grief for the Sycamore Gap tree undoubtedly influenced how the investigation was prioritized. It wasn't "just a tree" to the millions who had proposed, scattered ashes, or taken photos there.
- Restoration is a slow process. You can cut a 150-year-old tree down in three minutes, but you can't "fix" it. The saplings being grown now won't look like the original for another century.
The story of Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers is a textbook example of how a moment of "bravado" can dismantle two lives and a piece of national history in one go. They’ll likely be out in a couple of years on license, but they’ll be the "men who cut down the tree" for the rest of their lives.
To keep tabs on the environmental restoration at the site, you can follow updates from the Northumberland National Park Authority or the National Trust, who are currently managing the regrowth of the original stump.