THE TREE THAT STOOD for almost three centuries in Sycamore Gap was more than a landmark. It was an icon. A celebrity, a friend, a sentinel, a memorial, a shrine, a secret keeper, a witness.
The shock of loss has been felt far and wide. Many people, me included, lamented the ecological and social disconnection that we imagined must have contributed to such wanton destruction. I’m not so sure now. Without speculating too much, if the perpetrator was local, it is