Some people just aren’t right. I bring this up because some turd teenager (and a grown-man) decided to ignore everything the Lorax taught us and cut down a famous sycamore tree that had survived hundreds of years (as well as various horrible incidents, including the Nazi bombing of England in Northumbria). The tree was located at Hadrian’s Wall, and was famous enough to have its own name, Sycamore Gap, and be featured in the 1991 Kevin Costner movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Look, we’ve all had our moments. Life is hard, and sometimes you do things you’re not proud of, like not letting someone merge into traffic, or not bothering to hold the door open on your way out. For one 16-year old boy and one 60-year old man, both of whom have been arrested for the vandalism, it was cutting down a beloved tree for no reason. There are better ways to express your dissatisfaction than murdering an innocent tree! Per The Guardian:
Locals and national park authorities said they were “struggling to see the logic” in the destruction of a sycamore which had long become “part of this area’s DNA” and had gone through thousands of changes of seasons.
[…]
Police said they believed the felling had been a deliberate act of vandalism.
Who wakes up one day and decides to cut down a tree that is not in their way, brings people joy, and is a testiment to the beauty of nature? A jerk, that’s who!
This is a national outrage and people in the U.K. are understandably upset:
[Andrew Poad, general manager at the National Trust] added: “It’s part of this area’s DNA, that’s what I’m struggling with. I can’t see the logic in what’s happened.”
Tony Gates, the chief executive of the Northumberland national park authority, said staff at the visitor centre had been in tears after arriving in the morning and finding the famous tree felled.
He said: “Everyone’s just in shock. It’s one of the most iconic landscapes in the country. When we feel that sense of loss, how do we perpetuate the legacy and create a real sense of meaningfulness?
It’s heartbreaking. This is a tree that has given joy to generations of people. It survived thousands of seasons, and should have been her for hundreds of years to come. Someone, or someones, took it upon themselves to rob everyone of the joy the tree could have brought. It seems even more tragic coming on the heels of the hottest summer ever, that human beings truly can’t help but destroy nature.
It’s days like these that you really wish the Lorax was real, and that someone was there to have spoken for the tree:
I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees
The Lorax
have no tongues. And I’m asking you, sir, at the top of my lungs– he was very upset as he shouted and puffed–
What’s that THING you’ve made out of my Truffula tuft?
Look, Lorax, I said. There’s no cause for alarm. I chopped just one tree. I am doing no harm.
The whole situation is sad, pointless, and devastating. I hope whoever did this is held accountable, and a new tree is planted where the last one was hewn.
(featured Image: Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. / Ian Forsyth, Getty Images)
