[ad_1]
ROSA WOODS / Things
Thousands of dollars worth of tropical plants were stolen from the Begonia House in the Wellington Botanical Garden.
A dozen tropical plants costing thousands of dollars have been stolen from the Wellington Botanical Garden.
The thieves took the plants, some of which were three feet tall, as well as the cuttings from Begonia House, manager David Sole said.
But while plant theft was becoming more common, it was the largest theft ever seen in gardens.
“This type of plant theft is becoming more prevalent in New Zealand as there is a fad for rare or unusual houseplants that appears to be driving the market,” he said.
READ MORE:
* What are the most instagrammable indoor plants? Turns out they are old prickly cacti
* A rare plant stolen from the Christchurch Botanic Gardens could sell thousands on the ‘black market’
* Coveted houseplant selling for thousands of dollars stolen from Christchurch Botanic Gardens
ROSA WOODS / Things
Garden manager David Sole says there are plans to beef up Begonia House security and monitoring.
“We have not had robberies on this scale before.”
Staff noticed debris on the greenhouse floor when they checked the plants Tuesday morning.
City hall staff would verify the security footage where the thieves may have loaded the plants into their cars.
Meanwhile, plans are also underway to tighten security and monitoring at Begonia House, but it was difficult to keep track of the stolen plants.
“Plants are notoriously difficult to make uniquely identifiable, and from time to time, plant theft has been a problem for all public gardens almost forever,” he said.
Police received the report that plants had been stolen from the Begonia House sometime Monday night and were evaluating the information, a spokeswoman said.
This is not the first time that thieves have attacked the gardens.
ROSA WOODS / Things
Gardener Rachel Solomon at the Wellington Botanical Garden’s Begonia House.
The Christchurch Botanical Garden was the victim of a daytime theft of the extremely rare variegated monstera from its orchid home on September 19.
The thief climbed a tall safety glass window to steal the plant, valuable for the white spots on its leaves.
Online sales of indoor plants have also exploded in recent months.
In January, a variegated monstera sold for almost $ 5,000 on Trade Me. In June, a fleshy hoya or ‘Hindu rope’ plant sold for $ 6,500, while in August a low sold for $ 8,150, a Trade Me record for a houseplant.
But not everything is correct and dozens of people have reported plant sales scams on social media.
For Smole, the best outcome would be for the thieves to return the plants.
“I would love to see them bring them back,” he said.
