Sycamore Gap felling: Robin Hood director furious at vandalism

Kevin Reynolds, director of the 1991 Hollywood film, featured the tree in one of the film's most iconic scenes which has been credited for bringing the spot to worldwide fame.

"I was just stunned. I mean, I was gutted. Then I was furious," Kevin said.

Kevin, 71, learned of the vandalism while on a boat off the coast of Turkey.

The felled Sycamore Gap tree (Image: PA)

He first discovered the Sycamore Gap tree when he visited as a student.  

"Sycamore Gap on Hadrian's Wall was one of the most quintessentially idyllic spots in the world and now it's gone, it's murdered, and for what reason?

"Would you destroy the Taj Mahal, the Gullfoss Falls in Iceland or the Big Dipper?

"This is the second loss Prince of Thieves has suffered in the last couple of years - Alan Rickman and now this."

Alan Rickman played the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood and died in 2016 after fighting cancer.

"I know some people will say you can't compare the death of a tree to the death of a person but I think some things are so iconic, so perfect in their being, that they have a profound effect on people as this does.

"So I think that this comparison is justified and I know Alan would agree with it," Kevin said.

Andrew Poad, a manager at the National Trust, said the film changed everything for the protected site: "When you were walking past or when we were working there, what you would see was parents walking the wall with their children and trying to replicate what they had seen in the film, which was the little boy running up the tree."

The tree at Sycamore Gap was cut down overnight between September 27-28 by an unknown person or persons.

So far, two people have been arrested in connection with the incident. They were a man in his 60s and a 16-year-old boy, but both were released on bail.