Workers at the site on Wednesday used chainsaws to trim the trunk
By Duncan Leatherdale
BBC News, at the scene
The “special” and “poignant” Sycamore Gap tree is to be cut up and moved by crane, two weeks after it was felled.
People are being urged to stay away from the tree, which is about 150 years old and stood close to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland.
Workers using chainsaws have removed its branches and a crane is being moved into position to hoist it away.
Experts are aiming to keep the trunk in “as large sections as possible” to give them “flexibility” on its future.
Tree surgeons have arrived and unloaded timber support beams and chainsaws.
They previously decided it was too big to move in one piece.
The public has also been reassured that the tree’s stump has been protected.
The 50ft tree (15m), which was made famous in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, will be taken to an unnamed National Trust property where it will be “safely stored”.
Image source, PA Media/Owen Humphreys
The trunk of the tree will be be cut into large pieces
Part of Hadrian’s Wall was also damaged when the tree came down, sometime between the evening of 27 September and morning of 28 September.
“It’s currently in a precarious position resting on the wall, so it’s necessary we move it now, both to preserve the world-famous monument that is Hadrian’s Wall, and to make the site safe again for visitors,” said Andrew Poad, general manager of the site.
“We’ve explored every option for moving the tree, and while it isn’t possible to lift it in one go – as the tree is multi-stemmed with a large crown – we have aimed to keep the trunk in as large sections as possible, to give us flexibility on what the tree becomes in future.
“We’re encouraging people to stay away from the site while these complex and difficult operations take place.
“It’s clear that this tree captured the imaginations of so many people who visited, and that it held a special – and often poignant – place in many people’s hearts.”
Image source, PA Media/Owen Humphreys
The stump of the tree has been protected, the National Trust said
The tree, which was seen as a symbol of Northumberland, and was a popular site for photographers and walkers due to its location in a dramatic dip in the land, was planted by a previous landowner in the late 1800s.
A Northumbria Police investigation continues and a 16-year-old boy and a man aged in his 60s arrested on suspicion of criminal damage remain on bail.
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