When the Sycamore Gap tree was felled, many began to wonder how the tree, so perfectly positioned in the central dip of the Hadrian's Wall between Housesteads and Steel Rigg, Northumberland, came to be in the first place. Was it deliberately planted or simply "serendipity of the wind"? Many suspect the hand of John Clayton.

Two men have been sentenced to four years and three months each in prison for felling a landmark sycamore tree in northern England.

Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were sentenced to more than 4 years in prison for cutting down the iconic Sycamore Gap Tree in a "deliberate and mindless" act.