Local Thieves Haul Off Trees

Bold thieves have recently stolen several large palm trees from a Burnaby garden centre, while another group of thieves have removed a memorial tree from a Vancouver church garden.

The five palms taken from the Burnaby GardenWorks were five to six feet tall and valued at $3500. They were stolen over the course of three nights. After the first loss, garden centre managers took measures to prevent more losses but thieves returned on two more nights to remove four more trees. These types of losses are putting pressure on business to invest in greater security measures, like installing surveillance cameras or hiring patrols.

In another case of brazen plant theft, someone dug up a six-year-old tree from the front yard of West Point Grey Presbyterian Church. The tree was a very distinctive Japanese willow, which had been donated by a church member as a memorial for her mother.

Links:

• Thieves target big palms from Burnaby Now


• Memorial tree stolen from church garden from the Vancouver Courier

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:00 PM on August 18, 2004