Somehow the sense of loss in the deliberate cutting down of the Sycamore Gap tree is deeper in the spring.
Certainly, that’s what it feels like to visitors here, especially those who lay daffodils and rosary beads where it once stood.
For it was at this time of year that the mighty sentinel beside Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland was always at its most splendid, with its shining emerald leaves.
“When the tree was in its glory, it felt like a very special place, a bit mystical,” said hiker Dee McGonagle, who like many others felt its destruction as a loss.
Above, the drizzly gray sky suddenly brightens, making the void left by the famous monument seem more striking.
The Sycamore Gap tree that stood next to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland was felled on September 28, 2023
Northumbria Police have questioned a 16-year-old boy and 69-year-old former logger Walter Renwick, both of whom have since been released
Blue police tape was placed around the logging site as forensics arrived on the scene to investigate
Forensic investigators from Northumbria Police examine the Sycamore Gap tree after it was felled last year
The tree was cut down in the middle of the night and fell on the other side of the ancient Roman wall
“It would have been a perfect day to take a photo,” Dee notes. For her and countless others, this is how the tree is fixed in their mind’s eye – silhouetted in high relief against the blue of the clouds.
But beyond memories, the mystery of what happened here in the middle of that stormy night last September dominates thoughts.
Six months later, the question remains unanswered: who took a chainsaw to the 150-year-old tree, this great symbol of the North East, and why? And why have the police not yet had to bring anyone to justice?
Locals joke that the stump will grow back before the culprit is found. Some predict gloomily that the case will never be solved.
At first, it seemed like this nationwide whodunnit would be wrapped up in a matter of days.
No shortage of suspects. The locals assumed the guilty party was among them.
Who but a local could navigate the remote, rugged terrain in the dark?
One suspect, a 16-year-old, is said to have had a complaint against the National Trust, which owns the land around the tree.
Another, a 67-year-old former logger, was forced to publicly deny his involvement after police raided his home and took away his chainsaw.
A single flower laid by a heartbroken visitor paying tribute to the fallen Sycamore tree
Forensic investigators from Northumbria Police examine the scene of the brutal hood the following day
Shocked and saddened locals gathered around the fallen tree the morning after it was cut down
Both were later told that no further action would be taken, but not before the teenager received death threats.
As time went on, the theories became more and more fanciful. Some suggested an occult link. Then the trail seemed to go cold.
In reality, the investigation has quietly gathered pace and Northumbria Police are hopeful that charges can be laid soon. Two men in their 30s are still out on bail.
County councilor John Riddle recently asked a senior officer about progress and said he was told it was likely a recommendation would be made to the Crown Prosecution Service.
He said: ‘I was pleasantly surprised because, like many others, I wondered if we would ever get to the bottom of this.’
Saplings have grown after seeds and twigs were taken from the site of the tree felling and carefully cultivated to bring the tree back to life
A shoot from the stump of the felled Sycamore Gap tree was taken to a specialist center by the National Trust Plant Conservation
Seedlings, grafted buds and shoots of the Sycamore Gap tree after it was felled are cared for in a specialist center
Another thing that may be surprising, says a source close to the investigation, is that the suspects are not local but are from neighboring Cumbria.
According to a source: ‘The theory is that whoever was responsible was not motivated by spite, but acted out of pure childishness.’
In the 1980s, the now world-famous plane tree was hardly given a second glance by hikers.
But then it appeared in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner, and was voted England’s Tree of the Year in 2016.
Social media has greatly increased their popularity and it quickly became a favorite place for marriage proposals, scattering of ashes and of course photos.
An early theory was that the tree was felled as a social media prank.
Although there is no CCTV footage anywhere near the site, police are believed to know the man’s route to the tree – the path from the Steel Rigg car park that follows Hadrian’s Wall on a rocky rollercoaster over hills and open moors .
It is thought that cell phone triangulation could play a role in any prosecution, but it is unclear to what extent DNA from the tree will play a role.
The 300-year-old plane tree was nicknamed Robin Hood’s Tree after it featured in the 1991 blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner.
A sign next to the tree stump that was brutally cut down last September states that the tree is still alive and asks visitors to respect the stump
Samples would yield genetic material that could then be linked to sawdust found on the clothing or machinery of potential suspects.
But the time that has passed since the crime seems to indicate a lack of forensic clues.
Three years ago, tree DNA was used as evidence in the US to convict the leader of a gang of illegal loggers who had cut down valuable maple trees in a Washington forest.
However, few in this part of Northumberland believe the mystery of Sycamore Gap will be solved so easily.
Still, they were encouraged to hear last month that fresh shoots have emerged from the tree’s rescued seeds and twigs taken to a ‘high security greenhouse’ in Devon the day after it was destroyed.
Back at Sycamore Gap, there is similar hope. “This tree stump is still alive,” a sign warns. “If we leave it alone, new growth can emerge.”