LONDON: The first five saplings grown from one of the UK’s most iconic trees after it was deliberately felled will be planted on Saturday, organizers said.
Until September 2023, the tree had stood for nearly 200 years in a dramatic dip next to Hadrian’s Wall, a Roman-era UNESCO World Heritage site in northern England.
Known as the Sycamore Gap tree, it was so striking it featured in the 1991 Hollywood film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.”
Two men were jailed for more than four years in July for felling it.
Now some 49 saplings grown from the tree will be planted, including half next week during UK National Tree Week, the National Trust conservation charity which protects historic places said.
Director General Hilary McGrady praised “quick thinking” Trust conservationists who took cuttings in the wake of the vandalism that had “allowed the Sycamore Gap tree to live on.”
“The team has cared for these 49 hopeful saplings beautifully and they’re now ready to be given to communities,” she said.
McGrady said each tree would “become a source of inspiration, a place to reflect, a home for nature or simply a reminder that there are always good things worth fighting for, even after something so senseless.”
The saplings are being given to people and communities across the UK, with nearly 500 applications received.
All will be planted in publicly accessible places.
One of the first saplings to be planted on Saturday will be at a tree sanctuary in the central city of Coventry where a teenage trio set up a project to rescue their city’s trees.
Other recipients later in the week include the Rob Burrow Center for MND .
The rugby league star died from the degenerative neurological condition in June 2024.
There was public outrage at the Sycamore Gap tree felling which prosecutors called “moronic.”
The two men, aged in their 30s, who were jailed for chopping it down have never explained why they did it.