A MAN who was arrested over the Sycamore Gap tree felling said it couldn’t have been him as he was watching Netflix at the time.
The world-famous Sycamore Gap tree was felled in September 2023 – with Walter Renwick arrested over the felling of the 70ft tree.
Walter Renwick has protested his innocence after being arrested and then bailed over the felling of a 70ft treeNNP
PAThe felled Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland[/caption]
PAForensic investigators from Northumbria Police examine the stump[/caption]
Walter, 69, is a former lumberjack who lives eight miles from where the UK’s most famous tree had proudly stood.
On September 29 he was arrested after the iconic tree was chopped down and was later released on bail.
Cops descended on Renwick’s farm in Northumberland, close to the scene of the crime, but no one has been charged despite nearly three weeks passing.
Now, self-confessed “boring” Walter says that his life has been upended after the accusations.
Speaking to The Times, he said: “I was here. I don’t go anywhere. I’m the most boring person in the world.
“I was watching Netflix. I didn’t know it was cut down.
“If I’d have done a murder, I’d be getting less hassle, you know that? People walked past me and gave me these looks, like I’m a piece of s***.
“You know what? It’s just a tree to me. Whoever has done it is going to get ten years for a tree.”
And he said he had to take precautions to avoid being recognised after the tree’s destruction.
Walter has even started wearing a blonde Rod Stewart wig to hide his identity due to anger.
On Thursday a large section of trunk was lifted off Hadrian’s Wall by a crane on tracks, two weeks after it was cut down in an apparent act of vandalism.
Andrew Poad, the general manager of the Roman heritage site for the National Trust, said: “Effectively, what the perpetrator has done is coppice the tree. So ironically they have prolonged the life of the tree.”
He added that the tree will not look the same, but he is confident the stump will regrow, which is typical of sycamores.
The 200-year-old tree’s branches were chopped off with chainsaws this morning so it could be lifted off piece by piece from the historic and delicate Roman wall.
The 70ft-tall sycamore, which stood in a dramatic dip at Sycamore Gap near Crag Lough in Northumberland, had gained fame over the years thanks to an appearance in a Hollywood blockbuster.
The tree notably featured in the 1991 movie Robin Hood Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman.
The iconic landmark was also one of the most photographed in the UK and was voted English Tree of the Year in 2016.
After the felling, cops conducted a two-day search of the isolated plot, where they found a chainsaw in an outbuilding.
It was added to dozens more evidence bags taken from the former campsite.
There has been an outpouring of emotion since the landmark was felled, with many suggestions on what could be done with the felled section.
This includes making benches from the wood, a sculpture or souvenirs to sell.
Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
