The Major oak, one of Europe’s oldest, largest and most celebrated ancient trees, has died.
According to The Guardian, the huge tree, which has grown in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, for at least 1,000 years, failed to produce any leaves this year, after becoming stressed by a series of hot, dry summers.
Thousands of visitors admire the oak each year, with its great age, enormous 11-metre girth and 28-metre canopy inspiring a forest of folklore.
Although the oak would not have been hollow in Robin Hood’s day, it was said to have provided a sanctuary for the outlaw and his gang when fleeing the tyrannical Sheriff of Nottingham.
The Woodland Trust, which named the oak its tree of the year in 2014, said it had suffered from "excessive tourism."
Ed Pyne, senior conservation adviser, added, "Its decline is a warning, the way we treat ancient trees today will shape whether they survive for future generations."
While it will remain standing as a monument for people and wildlife, the RSPB's local site manager said its failure to produce leaves was a "heartbreaking" development.
For years, visitors were able to walk right up to the tree, which dated back to the Norman conquest.
People could even climb into its large hollowing trunk, but the surrounding area was fenced off in the 1970s, and it has since been viewed at a distance.
