Mr Knox is citing other high-level criminal damage cases, including an attempt to harm the "totemic" Van Gogh Sunflowers at a gallery. In that case two young women were jailed for 21 and 24 months, which the Court of Appeal then approved as "proper sentences".

The tree, a beloved landmark that stood by Hadrian’s Wall in northern England, was found illegally cut down in 2023.

The tree stood for nearly 150 years before the two men carried out what a prosecutor called a “moronic mission” and cut it down in the middle of the night.