Standing in a dramatic dip in the landscape created by glacial meltwater, it was one of the country's most photographed trees and an emblem for the North East of England.

Two men from Cumbria, aged 38 and 31, were arrested in October 2023 and charged in April 2024 with criminal damage both to the tree and to the adjacent Hadrian's Wall.

[2] The Sycamore Gap tree was by Hadrian's Wall at grid reference NY 761 677, between Milecastle 39 and Crag Lough, about two miles (three kilometres) west of Housesteads Roman Fort in Northumberland, northern England.

[3] This section of the wall follows the edge of a cliff – an outcrop of the Whin Sill – and several sharp dips in it caused by melting glacial waters.

[3] The name "Sycamore Gap" was coined by a National Trust employee when the Ordnance Survey were remapping the area and asked if the previously unnamed spot had a designation.

[7][9] According to the National Trust, it was planted in the late 19th century by the previous land owner, Newcastle lawyer John Clayton (1792–1890) as a landscape feature,[10] making it about 150 years old.

[14] The tree escaped damage on 30 May 2003 when a helicopter filming British Isles – A Natural History crashed around 30 metres (100 feet) away, narrowly avoiding presenter Alan Titchmarsh.

[4] The prize was a £1,000 grant which was used to survey the health of the tree and to carry out work to protect its roots, which were becoming exposed due to the high volume of foot traffic passing over them.

The force later indicated no further action would be taken against the boy and the man in his 60s, while the other two men remained on bail,[22][23] and in April 2024 were charged with criminal damage to the tree and to Hadrian's Wall in connection with the felling.

[32] The first seedling was presented to King Charles III who announced that it would be planted in the Windsor Great Park once it had matured into a sapling.