The Sycamore Gap tree is being stored in a secret location to protect it from souvenir hunters, it has been reported.

According to the Sunday Times, police caught several members of the public trying to take pieces of the tree from the site where it was felled near Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland.

The tree has since been removed from the site by a crane, and is now being kept at a storage facility by the National Trust.

Much-photographed and painted, the lone sycamore is considered to be one of the most famous trees in the world and an emblem for the North East of England.

It was situated in a dramatic dip in the Northumberland landscape.

Lady Jane Gibson, chairwoman of the Hadrian’s Wall Partnership, told the Sunday Times: “The wood from the tree has been taken away and stored for safekeeping at a secure location.

“There were concerns people were taking pieces of it for mementoes, like what happened with the Berlin Wall, when people would take a piece as a keepsake.

“It is now being safely stored as we work on potential future uses for the timber.”

The National Trust has asked the public for suggestions on what to do with the leftover wood from the felled tree, with options including turning it into a bench where the tree once stood, or even making it into pencils.