Two friends went on a "moronic mission" to fell the famous Sycamore Gap tree in an act of "mindless vandalism" which they filmed on a phone, a jury has been told.

Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers used a chainsaw to chop down the tree and "the technique that they used showed expertise and a determined, deliberate approach to the felling", prosecutors told Newcastle Crown Court on Tuesday morning.

Opening the case Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said one of the men cut across the trunk, causing the sycamore to fall and hit Hadrian's Wall, while the other defendant filmed what they were doing on Graham's mobile phone.

It is alleged they made the recording as a "trophy" of their handiwork.

They then joked together when members of the public posted social media messages about the felling and congratulated themselves on "launching an operation like we did last night," it is alleged.

Mr Wright said: "The prosecution say that two men are responsible for that mindless vandalism - the defendants, Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers."

The prosecutor said the pair had driven to the Sycamore Gap area of Northumberland in Graham's Range Rover from the Carlisle area, where they lived, late on September 27 2023.

Opening the prosecution case, Mr Wright told the jury: "Though the tree had grown for over 100 years, the act of irreparably damaging it was the work of a matter of minutes.

"Having completed their moronic mission, the pair got back into the Range Rover, and travelled back towards Carlisle."

Graham, 39, of Millbeck Stables, Carlisle, and Carruthers, 32, of Church Street, Wigton, Cumbria, deny two counts each of criminal damage.

They are jointly charged with causing £622,191 of criminal damage to the much-photographed Northumberland tree.

They are also charged with causing £1,144 of damage to Hadrian's Wall, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

The wall and the tree belong to the National Trust.

Mr Wright told the jury: "Over many years the tree, and its situation, became a famous site, reproduced countless times in photographs, feature films, and art."

He added: "By sunrise on Thursday September 28, the tree had been deliberately felled with a chainsaw in an act of deliberate and mindless criminal damage."

Mr Wright said the defendants marked their intended cut on the tree with silver spray paint before cutting out a wedge that would dictate the direction in which the tree would fall.

The prosecutor told jurors that photographs and two short videos were taken on Graham's mobile telephone which showed a piece of wood next to a chainsaw in the boot of his vehicle.

He said that a forensic botanist has confirmed that there is "very strong evidence" to support the hypothesis that the piece of wood was taken from Sycamore Gap.

Mr Wright said: "This was perhaps a trophy taken from the scene to remind them of their actions, actions that they appear to have been revelling in."

He told the court: "When on Thursday morning the felled tree was discovered and global media began reporting the news, Carruthers and Graham shared social media posts about it with each other, Graham saying to Carruthers, 'here we go'.

"The discussions between the pair are a clear indication that they were the men that cut down the tree."

The prosecutors said the defendants joked about "an operation like we did last night" the day after the felling of the tree.

He said Carruthers sent Graham a Facebook post from a man called Kevin Hartness which said: "Some weak people that walk this earth disgusting behaviour."

Two minutes later, Graham replied to Carruthers with a voice note saying: "That Kevin Hartness comment. Weak ... f****** weak? Does he realise how heavy s**t is?"

Carruthers replied with his own voice note saying: "I'd like to see Kevin Hartness launch an operation like we did last night ... I don't think he's got the minerals."

Mr Wright said this was "the clearest confirmation, in their own voices, that Carruthers and Graham were both responsible for the deliberate felling of the tree and the subsequent damage to Hadrian's Wall".

He told jurors that the pair were "friends who were regularly in each other's company", saying that Graham runs a groundwork company and Carruthers told police he worked in property maintenance and mechanics.

Mr Wright said a walker photographed the tree still standing, "as it had been for over 100 years", at around 5.20pm on September 27 2023, as a storm approached.

The damage to tree was reported to police at 9.46am the next day, he said.

The prosecutor explained that the method of cutting the tree using a wedge "shows that the tree was felled by someone with some knowledge of how to fell a tree".

Mr Wright said the wedge cut from the tree has never been found.

He reminded the jury that the prosecution suggests it was taken by the defendants as "some sort of trophy or reminder of this senseless act".

Mr Wright said police found a chainsaw blade and cover at Graham's property and a chainsaw at Carruthers' but they cannot say that these were the actual saws used in the felling.

He said the prosecution case is that the chainsaw used to fell the tree has been hidden and "it simply has not been found".

Mr Wright said: "The simple point is that these are men with knowledge of how to fell a tree of this size, had access to a wide variety of equipment and the relevant equipment, worked together to carry out tree felling and had a close friendship at the time."

The trial continues.