In Pictures: Crane lifts Sycamore Gap landmark tree after felling ‘prolonged its life’

As painstaking works were carried out in Northumberland to remove the 50ft sycamore, believed to have been planted in the late 19th century, thoughts turned to what will happen to the timber and the stump left behind.

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."

Plans will be made to keep grazing sheep off the stump, allowing any shoots which emerge to grow.

Mr Poad said the tree will not look the same, but is confident the stump will regrow, which is typical of sycamores.