Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Britain's Latest True Crime Thriller: Who Killed the Sycamore Tree?

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 48 posts

Re: Britain's Latest True Crime Thriller: Who Killed the Sycamore Tree?

#21

Post by andyjohnson0 »

I'm disappointed by the amount of cynicism on display here. Yes, it was "just" a tree, and we have others. It also seems that the stump is still alive, so in some sense it wasnt "killed".

But it was also a thing of beauty that was deliberately mutilated for no reason. I think many people worry that this kind of casual destruction is becoming increasingly commonplace, and that valuing natural beauty is becoming harder to even comprehend in the coarsend popular culture of this little island.

Edit to add:

Over the last few years in the UK a great many ancient trees have been cut down to build HS2, as well as various roads. To the developers they were just an inconvenience: in the way, and not offering any opportunity for value extraction except as dead timber. They were probably also not as instagrammable as the tree in question.

Mostly the media coverage of this focussed on the human conflict, not the trees themselves. I wonder whether we're losing our ability to even talk about the dignity and intrinsic value of non-human things.

Re: Britain's Latest True Crime Thriller: Who Killed the Sycamore Tree?

#22

Post by unfunco »

normie3000 wrote: post #17
jimnotgym wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And sycamore trees are an invasive non-native species. In ancient forest, teams of people are employed to remove them

This particular tree was at least 1000 years old - there's documentary evidence of Robin Hood using it for shade.

It was 150 years old, it makes no difference to me personally in terms of feelings, but 1000 was far enough out that I wanted to correct it. The documentary evidence was a Kevin Costner movie.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycamore_Gap_tree

Re: Britain's Latest True Crime Thriller: Who Killed the Sycamore Tree?

#23

Post by flir »

mieses wrote: post #20
normie3000 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it stupid for specific trees to be protected?

for similar reason why specific people, animals or chairs don't deserve more protection than others.

Or buildings? Or mammals? Or Chordata?

I don't think this is a well thought out argument.

Re: Britain's Latest True Crime Thriller: Who Killed the Sycamore Tree?

#24

Post by DarkBrocoli »

normie3000 wrote: post #17
jimnotgym wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And sycamore trees are an invasive non-native species. In ancient forest, teams of people are employed to remove them

This particular tree was at least 1000 years old - there's documentary evidence of Robin Hood using it for shade.

It was planted in the 1800s

Re: Britain's Latest True Crime Thriller: Who Killed the Sycamore Tree?

#26

Post by mieses »

flir wrote: post #23
mieses wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for similar reason why specific people, animals or chairs don't deserve more protection than others.

Or buildings? Or mammals? Or Chordata? I don't think this is a well thought out argument.

cutting an annoying random tree down in your annoying random neighbor's yard is just as bad as this event. this is the foundation of western civilization. prioritizing one tree over another leads to bad stuff. many have thought this through and many have argued the opposite (as you) and have sought opportunity in dismantling this principle. it's not a new debate, despite what this HN clickbait makes it seem to be.

Re: Britain's Latest True Crime Thriller: Who Killed the Sycamore Tree?

#28

Post by ionwake »

Just a reminder, if you ever look at England on a map and try and guess where the middle of it is, that is where the tree stood, alone, surrounded by fields.

Until it got chopped down.

I had actually planned to walk to this tree simply because of how it looked, its location and how peculiar and lovely it seems, from a late night browse on google maps.

Re: Britain's Latest True Crime Thriller: Who Killed the Sycamore Tree?

#29

Post by xyzzy123 »

mieses wrote: post #26
flir wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or buildings? Or mammals? Or Chordata? I don't think this is a well thought out argument.

cutting an annoying random tree down in your annoying random neighbor's yard is just as bad as this event. this is the foundation of western civilization. prioritizing one tree over another leads to bad stuff. many have thought this through and many have argued the opposite (as you) and have sought opportunity in dismantling this principle. it's not a new debate, despite what this HN clickbait makes it seem to be.

Is defacing the Mona Lisa the same as defacing a train car, in your view?

If there is any difference, would it be related to the value of the object? Would you say a random tree in a backyard has the same "value" as an iconic tree whose destruction is causing widespread outrage?

Re: Britain's Latest True Crime Thriller: Who Killed the Sycamore Tree?

#30

Post by Freak_NL »

jemmyw wrote: post #8
fdb345 wrote: post #5

What a couple of morons. I cant believe they've gone Not Guilty. The state will sacrifice them to their gods. An example will be made and these men will be severely punished on a much harder scale that what is deserved. Its only a tree after all. It wasn't even documented until that silly Robin Hood movie.

> Its only a tree after all It was bringing a lot more joy and happiness to the world for a lot more people than these idiots. But yeah, extreme punishment isn't bringing it back, and all the folks knowing it was them wot done it is surely punishment in itself. A fine and community service would be plenty.

The punishment, if they are found guilty, will likely be partly intended to act as a deterrent in addition to being punitive and compensative. I.e., a judge could find that setting an example is in the best interest of society, to deter other knuckleheads from vandalising monumental items.
Post reply on HN