This piece is an extract from our latest Forestry Latest News newsletter, which is emailed out at 4PM every Friday with a round-up of the week's top stories.
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THERE'S only really one place to go this week. The felling of the Sycamore Gap at Hadrian's Wall shocked not just the tree-care world, but those well beyond it.
On Thursday, images emerged showing the tree lying on its side, apparently cut down with a chainsaw during the night. The response was one of fury and sadness.
The National Trust said it was "deeply shocked". The local council leader called it the "most unbelievable and appalling act". The Arboricultural Association's (AA) John Parker said a conference had been left "shaken" by the news.
READ MORE: Teenager arrested in connection with 'felling' of iconic Sycamore Gap tree
A 16-year-old boy was later arrested in connection with the incident and, at the time of writing, remains in police custody.
Then, like any major story, came the pushback. Countless comments could be found, broadly saying something along the lines of: "It's just a tree. Stop caring so much about it so much." Or: "Why don't you care about X tragedy?"
In ways, it is hard not to sympathise with that point of view. News of the tree's demise came on the day Michael Gambon passed away and several people lost their lives in a shooting in Rotterdam.
Closer to home, my local council, North Lanarkshire, was sounding the death knell on 39 sport and community venues, affecting some of the UK's poorest villages and towns.
But the thing about trees is they have been there during bad times before, and maybe that's why they can mean so many things to so many people.
The Sycamore Gap had seen the rise and fall of the British Empire, Dickens at his prime, and even the launch of the Iphone. Its demise resonated because it symbolises what trees can be; time capsules.
There are trees in my local town that were around when my great grandfather was a lad. He was in the ground long before I was born, but the trees that once provided his shade do the same for me.
That's an intangibly special thing.
So grieve for the Sycamore Gap if you want to.
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