Spring stolen from bonsai fan
Priceless bonsai trees grown by a late bonsai master have been stolen from a ‘‘heartbroken’’ Christchurch collector.
Jay van Lent was shocked to find three decades-old maple trees missing from his Parklands home on Wednesday morning.
The landscape architect said the trees were part of a collection he inherited from the late Alan Van, one of Canterbury’s early bonsai masters.
‘‘I was absolutely heartbroken,’’ van Lent said.
‘‘Alan passed away about four years ago … those maples were his trees, so they are quite dear to me. It was a legacy that I was hoping to pass on to someone else one day.’’
Alan Van and wife Beverley Van are credited with forging Canterbury’s bonsai community. The couple started bonsai workshops in the early 1990s and helped create the Avon Bonsai Society.
Van Lent owns a collection of about 70 trees, ranging in age from five to 50 years old.
Each stolen maple was more than 30 years old, van Lent said. He suspected the thieves were ‘‘just someone who wants bonsai’’.
‘‘Hopefully I get them back or someone will realise they are a bit of hard work and bring them back.
‘‘For me it’s not what I could sell them for, it’s not about the money for me, it’s more about the personal connection and the passion that I have for them.’’
The maples, a trident and two varieties of Japanese maple, were his ‘‘fun trees’’ because they changed so much with the seasons.
‘‘It’s sort of taken the joy out of spring for me really, because there is something just so beautiful about looking after them all year round and seeing the colours come out as they change.