Killing of famous sycamore a reminder of the value of trees

What is the value of a tree?

It depends who you ask. A grower at a nursery might add up the years of care a tree receives and come up with a dollar figure. To the wildlife and insects that it provided for, it could be a matter of life or death. And the people who have gotten engaged or scattered the ashes of a loved one underneath it certainly couldn’t put a price on it.

It’s hard to assign a specific value to a tree because we usually only consider it when it’s gone.

You might have seen a headline about a month ago when the famous Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland, England, was cut down in the middle of the night. One of the most recognizable trees in the world, the single sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) was planted in the late 1800s and stood on what is now land owned by England’s National Trust.

It was between 50 and 70 feet tall — not a giant in the tree world ­— but it grew in a dip along the 84-mile-long Hadrian’s Wall, making it particularly notable, and it was featured in the 1991 movie “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.”

When the felled tree was discovered on  Sept. 28, its loss was mourned in much the way as a beloved celebrity is.

“I know a lot of people will say, ‘It’s just a tree,’ but it’s so much more,” Sophie Henderson, a photographer who frequently featured the tree, told the New York Times.

Two people­ — a 16-year-old and a former lumberjack in his 60s who lives nearby ­— were arrested, but no one has been charged yet.

If and when someone is charged and found guilty of the heinous act of unfathomable vandalism, what will be an appropriate punishment?

In 2020, a 25-foot-tall Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra “Agonquin Pillar”) was cut down and stolen and another fir tree cut in half at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum. The value of the trees was about $13,000, according to the police report.

Five months later, three students pledging a fraternity that was terminated as a student organization admitted to cutting down and stealing the tree. They each paid a $200.50 fine.

Trying to protect precious and important trees from the reckless actions of a few is a fool’s errand, but we can value and appreciate the trees we have while they are thriving.

The Sycamore Gap tree will probably resprout from the trunk as sycamores are known to do. It will take decades or centuries, and it’s unlikely to have the same picture-perfect form, but if there’s any justice, it will be loved just as much.