At last year's NATO summit in Madrid, the alliance formally invited Sweden and Finland to join its ranks. At this year's summit in Vilnius, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was hoping the alliance would extend his country the same favor.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 22, 2023--

A 16-year-old has been released on bail following his arrest on suspicion of criminal damage on one of the UK's most photographed trees. Authorities said the Sycamore Gap, next to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, was "deliberately felled” in an apparent act of vandalism. The National Trust said it was "shocked and saddened" that the "iconic" tree had been cut down. National Trust general manager Andrew Poad, said: "We are deeply shocked at what appears to be, an act of vandalism. "The tree has been an important and iconic feature in the landscape for nearly 200 years and means a lot to the local community and to anyone who has visited the site." Alison Hawkins, who lives in Liverpool, was one of the first people to see the fallen tree, posting a picture on Facebook, writing: "An awful moment for all walking Hadrians wall the Sycamore Gap tree has gone! Not the storm an absolute ******* felled it!!" Hawkins, who was on her fourth day of walking Hadrian’s Wall, said she was "tearful" when she discovered the tree had been cut down. "At first we thought it was because of the storm but then we saw a national park ranger," she told PA News. "He said it had been cut down and there was paint around the cut section, so it was a professional who knew where they were going to cut." "It was a proper shock," she continued. "It’s basically the iconic picture that everyone wants to see." "You can forgive nature doing it but you can’t forgive that. We’ve carried on the walk but news is spreading so we’ve passed quite a few people asking us if it’s true." Inevitably, once the news about the beloved tree spread to X/Twitter, devastated locals took to the platform with their thoughts: Meanwhile, others had only just learnt about its existence: One person responded: "Don’t worry, I live about an hour away and I’d never heard of it either." Another wrote: "This reaction to the sycamore tree being felled is getting a little OTT no?" Others did what Twitter does best, and poked fun at the incident: Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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