Chelsea gardeners looking to weed out the local flower thief

‘Children and their mums and old ladies and men in trilby hats all love seeing the gardens pop up overnight’

A CHELSEA flower thief has stolen a gold award-winning log garden during a crime spree in the neighbourhood.

Dozens of local businesses have displayed garden displays outside their shops for Chelsea in Bloom, a garden competition which runs alongside the Chelsea Flower Show. Each year it sees shops, restaurants and hotels adorning themselves with creative designs to compete for the coveted awards.

But now they have become the target of a flower thief who has stolen plants and garden materials over the weekend, including an intricate log garden which cost £1,500 to install.

Emma Hope, whose ladieswear store’s on-street garden won a gold prize in the competition, woke up on Sunday to find her log garden had been sabotaged, with logs and plants stolen.

The entry was titled “Summer of Love with A Kissing Gate and Garden of Logs carved with Love”, which featured a kissing gate and logs hollowed out and filled with wild flowers and plants.

Despite the large cost and effort which went into it the creation was only in place for five days before being all but ruined by the thief. Ms Hope said: “Really sad because people locally – children and their mums and old ladies and men in trilby hats, everyone – all love seeing the gardens pop up overnight. It’s free for everyone to look at, and people who can’t afford to go to Chelsea can see lovely gardens all around the King’s Road and Sloane Square and Sloane Street.”

Plants have reportedly also been taken from neighbouring stores including Rag and Bone, Bruno Cucinello and Tom Davies.

A local optician has a CCTV system installed in the area which may have captured images, raising the chances of the flower thief getting caught.

The police have been informed, but it is unknown whether they are investigating.