Public urged not to take branches from Sycamore Gap tree as souvenirs

Visitors caught trying to take pieces as crowd flock to site, while National Trust hope tree might regrow from stump

Members of the public have been urged not to try to take branches from the felled Sycamore Gap tree as souvenirs. Some visitors have been caught by police attempting to take pieces of the tree, which belongs to the National Trust, from inside the police cordon.

Visitors have flocked to the site to say goodbye to the landmark, which stood for more than 300 years in a small valley alongside Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland before being found chopped down on Thursday morning.