403
submitted 6 months ago by girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to c/world@lemmy.world

Two men have been charged with cutting down the popular 150-year-old Sycamore Gap tree next to Hadrian’s Wall last year in northern England, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Daniel Graham, 38, and Adam Carruthers, 31, were charged with causing criminal damage and damaging the wall built in A.D. 122 by Emperor Hadrian to guard the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire.

They were ordered to appear in Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on May 15.

The sycamore’s majestic canopy between two hills made it a popular subject for landscape photographers. It became a destination after being featured in Kevin Costner’s 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.”

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 33 points 6 months ago

I find this just so completely impossible to understand. At least with crimes like murder or burglary, I can understand where the motivation came from, but this? What could they possibly gain by doing this, other than the thrill of destroying something beautiful, or the knowledge that they're making other people sad? How is that at all fulfilling?

I honestly feel that people who get their kicks from this sort of thing just have no place in modern society.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 28 points 6 months ago

Some people just love being destructive. Like these assholes who were filmed a couple of weeks ago and who I don't think have been caught yet.

https://www.iflscience.com/national-park-service-seeks-help-finding-two-men-caught-vandalizing-rocks-at-lake-mead-73834

I don't understand it either, but there doesn't seem to be any more to it than 'we wanted to destroy it.'

[-] Transporter_Room_3@startrek.website 17 points 6 months ago

Tldr: people are dicks and absolutely will just break shit they know other people like just because they get a little thrill at causing other people to feel bad, or they really do just like breaking things and have no regard for others, history, or significance.

A couple years back there was a big search going on when someone decided to topple a cliffside tree and it fell onto the path below and crushed someone.

Looked it up just now because I never heard any follow up, and not only is it now reported as a "log" (idk if you can call a mostly dead tree a "log" but whatever) and three teenagers were charged.

At a state park near my house, there's an insane amount of huge sandstone boulders deposited by glacial melt, and half buried. Someone knocked an eroded piece away that was kind of like a table that people had a tradition of "you walk up the super steep sideof the mountain/hill, grab a pebble on your way up, and when you get to the top you try to toss it onto the pile that's accumulated over the years"

Now there's just a slowly building pile of palm sized rocks where the sandstone table fell as people started a new tradition.

I fully believe that if the world was introduced to a newly discovered alien species that only exists in one single hole on Mars, and teleportation on the same day, someone would have stuck an explosive in the puddle by the end of the day.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 12 points 6 months ago

Don't forget the long-lasting human tradition of making sure everyone knew you were there by carving your name into something beautiful. Literally goes back thousands of years.

[-] nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 6 months ago

I think that this is a significant motivation. We humans want to feel that that we have impacted the world around us and left a lasting mark to show that we were here and that we mattered. In modern society, that is hard to accomplish because of how many are struggling and having to dedicate all of their time to jobs instead of connecting with the community and world around them.

Naturally, this causes people to act out and do shitty things, from vandalizing unique rock formations and trees to mass shootings. I pose that much of that spectrum is rooted in the same alienation that people feel due to the pressures and situations caused by the mass polarization of wealth and lack of societal benefit from automation.

this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2024
403 points (99.0% liked)

World News

39021 readers
1441 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS