Sweddishiggy
115789
1529
23
Sep 29, 2023 9:07 AM
Sweddishiggy
115789
1529
23
Mountons
A tree like that should be a legal being. That was a sort of murder.
Malinut
Teenage angst. A massive cry for help, and he wouldn't be the first to cut down a tree. I did the same to a beautiful Prince of Wales pear tree, and the story goes that a certain G. Washington might have done the same. Thank God it was a tree and not his family. Let's hope it's worth it and the lad's back on the rails soon. The Sycamore Gap should be a monument to teenage mental health. Hugs and love to all.
GoodChange
romagnolimike27
This might be petty, but how does a tree go through thousands of changes of seasons in 300 years? One of those crazy details in journalism nowadays that just really annoys me.
SlipperyJohn1
Such a shame, an ancient tree cut down by a young little shit.
xj4low
If it was here in the US, the kid would be liable for hundred's of thousands of dollars. Claims involving tree damage or cut down are pricey. Especially given their age/height/size.
nintyuk
I hope they never name the fucker, he doesn't deserve the infamy he probably did it for.
tinydog
FatBastardVegetarian
Tom wants to ask him a question.
KarateKarate
gaggmaggot
[Imgur]()
MrFlinnman
Why are they still saying "believed to be 300 years old"? Can't they verify the age by counting the rings now that it has sadly been cut down? Or does no one want to be the person to figure out its not that old?
tobsterius
Is 300 years old really considered ancient?
Sweddishiggy
For a tree yes, not like an oak but quite ancient
MatthewJohnsona
You can graft cuttings of trees. Maybe there is a way to Frankenstein it back together? I also just learned that there is a "tree of the year" competition.
Einbrecher
The stump's still alive likely and will re-sprout a new leader, and you can definitely take/plant cuttings from the upper bit, but grafting the whole thing back on isn't going to happen and would result in a tree that a stiff breeze could probably blow over.
TheFastpaws
Well when social media platforms people such as Logan Paul to Andrew Tate? This is the kinda crap that results. Any attention will be seen as good attention.
Mikeiller
Jerks existed long before social media.
MakeAmericaLateAgain
15 years of community service planting trees for him
upsidedownyhead
Some people are pathetic little cunts
knotydes
I believe the British and Australians have a word for that kid.....
Sweddishiggy
I dont have time right now but how about I C U Next Tuesday so you can teach me that word?
porcubot
Arrested on suspicion. They don't know if he did it.
grandtheftjimbo
I've never been there or seen this thing, but even I'm upset and angry about it. It must be awful for the people from the area. It really is a murder; an utterly senseless theft of joy.
mikeatike
It was in the Kevin Costner Robin Hood movie, so you might have seen it.
Sensiblyinteresting
A 16 year old destroying something 300 years old that others cared about feels like there is a metaphor in there for corporations or what humans are doing to the environment
davescifi1350
It was in prince of thieves
GravyEducation
Cutting down a tree that old, to me, is the same as smashing an antique statue. And I'm not even a naturist, I'm just saying don't fuck with old shit because there's a certain powerful introspective property when you see something x amount of times older than you. And you just robbed that from everyone
grandtheftjimbo
Spot on mate. It's basically a hate crime.
davescifi1350
Hopefully there will be regrowth
Nual
Chain the kid to the stump. Let him rot with it. *Shrug* gives him a few solid days to really think about it...
TheSwagStick
"Skilled with a chainsaw" and "16 year old" is so uncommon a combination - especially in England - that i don't believe it was them
Simon727
He’s been released now. Would be surprised if he could do it on his own
IndigoThursday
It certainly doesn't look like something that could be done by one kid on his own
heirloomengraving
Why would a 16 yo not be able to cut down a tree with a chainsaw by himself? Doubt he owned one, so I guess his family probably did. In that sense it wasn't on his own.
GravyEducation
It's not isolated, people do this shit every year. Joshua Tree National Park in the US had some really bad ones
Fayen
A kid from my high-school got arrested because he asked a girl to prom by burning the words into several trees at a local park.
Sweddishiggy
Such a shame
henryvk
People have such vivid reactions to individual trees but when it comes to the wholesale destruction of the ecosphere it's apparently too abstract. Well, they'll see soon enoungh.
ivymantled69
Bang on. Save a single whale - makes news. But the gutting of our entire planet’s ocean life - people don’t want to see it at 6:00pm.
wandermanspacebot
People can care about more than one thing at once, actually.
IamMadeOfShamrocks
People also have very confused notions when it comes to animal rights.
thomn8r
So you're saying they can't see the forest for the tree?
DynamoJoeHoHo
The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions is a statistic. -J Stalin
TheAnswerWasAlwaysMoreLube
This is known, but it is not negative that people react emotionally to destruction of nature. It took a single whale with a diet of shopping bags to make the general public give a damn about ocean plastic.
Nivvi
Shame they don't go arresting CEOs of water companies for poisoning our water ways with raw sewage
idiotsonfire
Why don't we fucken do both.
RoYoMi
To by fair this seems like the type of place that is vacation destination for the rich, so of course someone needs to be punished.
ScotchWhiksey1993
I'm from the area, and it isn't its only about 45 minutes drive from the nearest city and its along Hardians wall, its a common walking route for locals and tourists wanting to learn more about the Romans in Britain
NonstopRampage
Yep. That's modernity for ya. Whatever kills us all, is gonna be 100% their fault, and worse, 100% legal.
carrotsonfire
Scotland's water is nationalised and they do it even more.
doctorId
Or the ones responsible for burning/cutting down millions of trees in the rainforest.
spittleteets
RelevantImgurian
Both need to be held accountable, you can be angry at two things.
Nivvi
Oh, I am. But for "some reason" bigger scumbags are not investigated :(
SalmonTheWise
This is easier to investigate, so even in ideal world it would provide faster results. Open and shut.
thrashingcows
The reason why is money.
BenderRodriguezz
While I agree with you on principle... this is a Wendy's.
Eastcoastthoughtprocess
Hey can I have some really floppy wet fries to go please? Also could you try and get more of them.in the to go bag then the dry container? Please make sure they're cold. The last ones were almost cooked.
BenderRodriguezz
Ask the employee. I'm just here for a ghost pepper chicken sando.
thrashingcows
FiftyShadesOfArugula
Graft the tree to its own rootstock. When rootstock can be joined with a scion from a different tree species, surely it can be joined with a part of itself
Cranbananarama
Cool. Now quickly tell them that. It'd be cool to see such a landmark literally brought back to life.
Sweddishiggy
Bhargo
the fact that grafting works at all is so bizarre, plants just let you stick any old piece of plant on them and they just go with it
TezuNii
National Trust has said that it can be coppiced https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66957589
conglacious
Lethous
University of auburn went through extensive lengths to save their tree when someone poured arsenic on the roots, it didn't survive. But this is just cut so we will see if they can save it
Rediix
It's believed the tree is probably too old for it too survive coppicing. Think the plan currently is to make a monument with the tree
wikkit
I thought about this. But you'd have to get a crane out there that can pick up the tree, and you'd have to somehow replace the entire strength of the heartwood. It's the kind of thing you'd want to know how to do already.
Malinut
Or try.
ChokingApples
It’s a tree… how heavy could it be, 20 bananas?
SteepedGardenMrsChen
That definitely something they'd do though, since it's a tourist attraction. It'd be great press to "fix" it. They can hire a professional and the equipment. But unless an expert says it'll work, it's unlikely to happen
TrippyTurtle69
Is there a window of time where this is possible?
heirloomengraving
No. This process is for tiny, finger-to-wrist size trees.
myotheralt
Best time is between starting the chain saw and it touching the bark.
FiftyShadesOfArugula
Until the wood has completely dried out. As long as there is still enough moisture in the cambium layer, the living tissue between heartwood and bark, the scion can stay alive. Ideally it should be cooled to slow down its metabolism and need for nutrients. The rootstock can supply itself with nutrients & water in the meantime.
HalfPintKatie
Good thing it's England then! Lots of rain.
Qpnao
Isn't that usually done with much younger trees
FiftyShadesOfArugula
The scion is typically young, or it's a single branch removed from a slightly older tree. In theory it could work at any age though. You can use gels with plant hormones like IBA to help things along.
Psychobeanz
Fascinating. I was going to say gorilla glue it back together.
TheDildoOfConsequences
Not an expert but did a uni course in how a tree works. Pretty sure this can't work. Xylem (water pipes) work under intense negative pressure — leaves literally suck water up from roots. Breach them with air and it's game over instantly, no chance of restoring flow.
Feralkyn
Yeah, this stuff dies off pretty fast. I think you could graft with a longer trunk if you worked fast but as it is you'd be hard-pressed to actually line up any form of meaningful connection to a larger piece. I'd do exactly what they're doing: seeds and cuttings. Turn it into a forest of the same tree.
HankScorpioCEOofGlobexCorporation
Those are all words that I want to learn what they mean.
lospaturno
you rarely arrive lubed, really
FiftyShadesOfArugula
That would mean all tree grafting is impossible. But that's how we've been propagating fruit-bearing trees since medieval times. You can't recombine their DNA without changing the fruit's properties and losing the desirable mutations. Scions are sometimes stored for months at cool temperatures and the grafting process is still a success.
TheDildoOfConsequences
That's an interesting counterpoint. I don't have any further information to confirm or refute it. I presume my lecturers knew what they were talking about, but who knows if I remembered it correctly.
Tootsie1
Did you look at the stump. It's absolutely flat & almost too the ground. Grafts are done at an angle & require huge amounts of support. That's why grafts are done with twig size branches. I know this from a book my gm had.
titaniumsnail
You can graft small branches but with larger plants it has difficulties due to how the cell membranes work when things get larger. Also a young branch or sapling is much easier to work with than a 300yo tree with uneven bark and old sapwood. Age and size are factors.
TheDildoOfConsequences
To those who say "but you can't suck water higher than 10 metres!" — good call. But you can in spaces much smaller than the normal water meniscus. It's a surface tension thing. Or so my lecturer said. I didn't understand that part at all!
AceOfShovels
Capillary action may have something to do with it
TheDildoOfConsequences
I think it's similar, but at this point I freely admit I'm pretty clueless!
Thisusernameisalreadyinusealso
Pish posh. They've never met your mom.
RoutemasterFlash
I don't know whether to love you for saying this or hate you for beating me to it.
SilverHornet
'in a continuous pipe'
Tarmaccian
It’s a molecule thing. If you remove all the air inside the pipe, air molecules still push down on the liquid outside the pipe, with enough force to push water up about 10m. If you want it higher than that, you have to add more force, like with a pump at the bottom, or molecular attraction pulling water molecules toward the pipe walls and each other… that reduces the force needed to move water through a (very narrow) pipe, increasing the maximum height.
TheDildoOfConsequences
Aha. There's also something to do with the curvature of the film of water in the interstices between plant cells. As the film diminishes, it develops a tighter and tighter curvature, and this can apparently develop a tremendous sucking power. Like enough to haul water up a sequoia. It's incredible really.
Skuggen
Thing seems to be in a somewhat remote location, so the little shit had to have sat at home thinking "There's this thing that people like, far away from me, having zero effect on my daily life. Imma go ruin it. That'll be fun."
TheSwagStick
Im more likely to believe that storm agnes took it down rather than a "16 year old" who had "a lot of skill... with a chainsaw" - especially in England
SmilinSloth
This screams attention seeking behavior to the max. He probably ain't getting enough attention or attention fiend and thought, if I just destroy this tree all eyes will be on me.
trayal
There are those that crave notoriety and attention and do shit like this to get that attention. I'm guessing he was one of those.
MatthewJohnsona
Simpsons did it: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/d/da/Bart_Worried_About_the_Statue_%28The_Telltale_Head%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20130930004605
Deadmanwalkn
Who knew a specific famous tree was really just a statue's head
TheDreadPirateBoberts
charge the culprit with murder
Xenavire
Or, just as plausible, tiny peepee. Probably a support group for the... "short", given the likelihood he had help.
cowinspace
16-year-old is the fall guy. Too young to be named, will receive no real punishment/rehabilitation.
cowinspace
The actual culprit will probaly be a landowner that disliked all of the tourists on "their" land.
TasteOfNoise
Mental illness is treated much differently in public opinion than mental handicaps and it needs to stop.
trigonman3
But republicans are in the US
HUGHgReaction
That's what I was thinking. If this was the US it would be an up and coming republican kid.
Mikeiller
You don't have to belong to any particular nation or political affiliation to be a dick
talion179
Worked at a hotel and had plants by my window in tiny pots I was growing for ages. One night I dream that they're all screaming at me and begging me to help them (weirdest dream ever!) and when I woke up I rushed outside to examine them, and they seemed fine... until I touched one and it fell over. Someone had ripped the plants in half out of their roots and placed them back as if nothing had happened, but they had done it to ALL of them. So I know how devastating such senseless spite can be.
ArthurPhillipDent
I've been to it. Its a drive, then a 10 minute walk, carrying a chainsaw all the way there and back. And theres no cover. People would see you coming and going for ages during the day. Its that or a 4x4 drive across some fields to get to it
JayEnfield
For some people, destroying something is a reliable way to be important to others. The goodness of that importance is irrelevant, as long as the attention is on them and/or their actions.
derekjohn
NB the man who burnt down the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus ca 300 BCE so he would be remembered for ever. His name is still known.
TheHumanSeason
Totally! It's a good bit along the wall, there is a carpark minute walk from it but he had to have planned it. Little shit will probably only have to do community service or something.
RecurringNightmare
depends...in criminal court it might only be "vandalism" and a relatively small offense, but if people manage to put a value on the damage he caused and go to civil court to sue him his life might be ruined...
TheHumanSeason
20 minutes walk that was meant to say!
ViscousCousCous
I do like the measurement of "a carpark minute" tho being 20 minutes
SpockIsMyHomeboy
It has been decided and it is so.
holtsjoe
The little shit will be branded in the community as 'the fucker who destroyed our tree' for decades to come. Moving will be the only way to escape it. And rightly so.
AshtonNight
At least make him plant a tree for every ring in that tree.
yalczero
And tend to them with each each tree that dies being another month preferably year) of community service.
neithermenoryou
He should dig up the stump by himself and then plant the new tree in its place so at least future generations will have the tree again.
Elnauriel
Now that sounds like restorative justice I can completely get behind!
RyuRichmond
Imagine living as a tree; happy, peaceful and some white dude chops you down for the fuck of it, not even firewood.
lovemetenderlovemesweet
Wow you're so hateful and racist for no reason. What if it turned out to be not a white person? Will you eat your shit?
RyuRichmond
Buddy, when you get raped by a White pastor who has terminal cancer maybe then you'll comprehend my shit
RyuRichmond
Also not to brag but I was 5 when he decided to look at a young native baby like a piece of meat for him to play with, so no, i don't care for most "white" people
MemeusCalgar
kingkongkeom
Why bring ethnicity into this? Also...how do you know he is white? Do you know why it is not mentioned in the article? Because it doesn't fucking matter!
RyuRichmond
Yeah i just have a general distrust for white people in general, it comes with the territory of being raped by a White pastor when you're 5; Sorry if my racist distrust offends you.
kingkongkeom
I am sorry that happened to you, that is truly awful. I know it may be a hard ask, but please don't blame all white people for what happened to you. He was a monster, and I hope he was put away until he dies or died in whatever way already. But rapists etc come in all colours, just like innocent decent people. Most people all are decent, in all colours, who just want peace, a normal life & don't want to harm anyone. Don't let a minority of monsters make you hate the majority of a whole race. 1/2
kingkongkeom
That's just my two cents. But you went through something I cannot even imagine,so if it helps you to cope then I guess that's the right way for you to go forward. Most important is that you get better, and will be able to find happiness in life. But I also hope that you will arrive at the point 8n your life where you will be able to trust a white person again, because most of us are good people. I wish you the best and that you find peace. 2/2
RyuRichmond
I know, it's never been this bad until recent years with the mass Graves of native children being discovered and all the priests/pastors coming out of the woodwork, I recognize it's hateful and I'm trying fucking damndest to become a mass murderer
MatthewJohnsona
"skillfully cut with a chainsaw" doesn't sound like something a 17 year old would do. There were definitely other people involved.
Kehy
In rural areas, you tend to get chainsaw skills decently early on. Unless your mother is a prick and "you don't need to know this but your brother does"
MatthewJohnsona
"16", sorry.
Skuggen
Eh. I have family that own wood- and farmland, and members of their household were pretty skilled at working the land at that age.
skincancerisfun
Have you ever used a chainsaw? It ain't difficult. If it said skillfully cut with a felling axe, then you'd have my permission to be skeptical.
WynnCreek
Obviously it was Chainsaw Man.
tp0d
naa, not nuf blood
Mehtoes
I noticed that to. This wasn't someone who suddenly decided to go fuck around. This took skill and understanding.
Mikeiller
The two are not mutually exclusive. You can know what you're doing then still one day just suddenly decide to be an ass for no reason.
PballQhead
I was absolutely "skillfully" felling trees with a chainsaw at 17, it's not an uncommon rural skill at all
SoraHjort
As well as the fact that they woke up to it after the fact and then they suddenly knew it was that kid, based on what evidence? Something seems off.
newsguycraigevans
If he did it for attention, such as putting it online, then he was bragging about it and got caught. Or maybe he sent pics to friends and one of them told.
tentacularfleshscape
I don't think there's a ton of people in the area, and I saw this story before they had a suspect
TheCornBanana
I prefer the lone chainsaw theory- easier to believe in single minded stupid and spite than sudden coordination of stupid and spite
DoctorWookie
If the kid did it, it was almost certainly a bet with friends or wanna-be friends. That's how this shit always happens with kids.
Doonesman
There was a second chainsaw on the grassy knoll!
DoomKitty01
Depends. I'm living in a small village in Germany and here it's absolutely normal that 12 year olds drive farm machines and teenagers using chainsaws so...maybe he's from a farm or just started working as a forest worker or something?
GiraffeBoxing
This is also common in the North of England and in rural communities here. It's also fairly easy to get hold of an electric chainsaw, they're sold on Amazon with no checks or age restrictions.
[deleted]
[deleted]
WhereIsMyAppleQuava
*historic. Damn brain
eponra
Na, we have a lot of little shits, too. Being german makes no one superior.
Racealistic
Yeh they tried thinking like that once
WhereIsMyAppleQuava
Not superior, I don't wanna even think about going along that line of thought.
WhoReadsPeoplesUsernamesAnyway
[hier Witz über die AfD einfügen]
Neurisko
I have never understood the vandal mindset. When I was young and one of my cousins wanted to go throw rocks through the windows at an abandoned building I was like, why? I just don't sympathize with that impulse. Maybe if it was the house of a bully or something, but destroying something without cause seems... mentally unbalanced.
Noodlesocks
I've never done anything as insane as cutting a tree down but I can say for myself at least that in consideration of vandalism, there was no rhyme or reason to it. It was just as much something to do as anything else we did. There was no malice or intention to disrupt or cause bother. The consequences wouldn't even be considered, we just did it because we felt like it. Not defending vandalism or anything, just sharing my own experience.
JasonThorn
One author likened it to a spoiled ten-year-old trashing the living room of a house their family was visiting. "Look at ME. Look at what I can do!"
TheInitiated
Yep. If I can not affect my environment in any meaningful way because my skill set is close to non-existent, I can at least knock stuff over and make people notice me that way.
yiddishyodeller3000
If you feel like the world has failed you, you’d like to just lash out and cause harm, too.
Neurisko
My childhood was not wine and roses, but I never wanted to destroy things randomly. Maybe it's because I have too much empathy for others, and an admiration for order and symmetry over chaos.
yiddishyodeller3000
Not really random… but again, I assume you had a healthier outlet. It’s all about control, when you feel you have no control in your life you lash out at what you can control… people, animals, things, etc. People weren’t evolved to be put in social cages of this size.
CaptainMisanthropy
I live in the area. The kid was sacked from his job from the woodlands agency a few days ago apparently and saw this as some sort of revenge. Little cunt.
Trespas
I hope they make him pay for all the estimated missed revenue from loss of tourism and visitors on that area for the rest of his life.
19tmoose97
They've arrested a 60 year old accomplice
reichstein
Just cut him off at the knees with his own chainsaw.
tp0d
he should be tied to the stump for a week and publicly flogged
Clayman8
I remember a Tales of the Crypt episode about loggers, the main guy falls in love with the boss' daughter iirc and he somehow ends up blinding him as punishment. The other loggers find out, tie him up inside a hollow log and let the blind logger "saw it down". I think thats a good idea.
themigbro
Little cunt, wth is wrong with people, seriously get him to plant 10000 trees somewhere and lock him up after.
storytaletime
I mean... he should be punished but also he's just a kid. Calm down tiger.
EricPisch
He’s 16, he can drink, shag, get married and join the army, he can also go to jail
AsAHistorian
Um, holy shit, he's still a kid, no he shouldn't, fucking hell
CorrectMostOfTheTime
Meh fuck him tbh little shit
Fillask
Ahh, you've made the rookie mistake of going against the masses when they're in what I affectionately call: lynching-mode.
EricPisch
It’s righteous justice