'Vandals have hacked at the heart of Christianity': 2,000-year-old Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury is cut downI don't know how true this story because it is not in the Bible but "this tree was said to have sprouted from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea 2,000 years ago.Christian legend dictates that Jesus's great uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, came to Britain after the crucifixion 2,000 years ago bearing the Holy Grail - the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper.
He visited Glastonbury and thrust his staff into Wearyall Hill, just below the Tor, planting a seed for the original thorn tree.
Roundheads felled the tree during the English Civil War, when forces led by Oliver Cromwell (pictured) waged a vicious battle against the Crown.
However, locals salvaged the roots of the original tree, hiding it in in secret locations around Glastonbury.
It was then replanted on the hill in 1951. Other cuttings were also grown and placed around the town - including its famous Glastonbury Abbey.
Experts had verified that the tree - known as the Crategus Monogyna Bi Flora - originated from the Middle East.
A sprig of holy thorns was taken from the Thorn tree by Glastonbury's St Johns Church on Wednesday and sent to the Queen.
The 100-year-old tradition will see the thorns sit on Her Majesty's dinner table on Christmas Day."
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Vandals destroy Holy Thorn tree in Glastonbury"Police are trying to establish a motive for the attack, in which vandals hacked off the branches of the tree, leaving only part of the trunk remaining. They have not ruled out a religious motive.
The legend tells of how Joseph arrived by boat, landed on the Isle of Avalon and having climbed Wearyall Hill, thrust his wooden staff into the ground where it took root and grew into the Glastonbury Holy Thorn. The thorn is renowned for flowering twice a year at Christmas and at Easter.
Because of its associations with Joseph, who was the Virgin Mary’s uncle, the Holy Thorn is of important spiritual significance for Christians and has come to be regarded as sacred by many others."
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