Thieves with green fingers hit Mona Vale
Green-fingered thieves who have repeatedly stolen plants from Christchurch’s beloved Mona Vale have been branded “the lowest of the low”.
The “brazen thefts” from the gardens in Fendalton have been going on for the last six months, costing the city council thousands of dollars in replacement plants and staff time.
The latest theft, at 5am on January 28, was carried out by a woman on an electric scooter with a wheelie bin on the front, who dug out established plants from Mona Vale’s rose garden.
It was captured on security cameras like many of the previous incidents, but the council has not been able to identify those responsible from the footage and is calling on the public to help.
“It’s blatant, there’s people coming through and helping themselves like they’re doing the shopping,” Botanic Gardens and Mona Vale deputy director Nicky Brown said.
The latest incident was not reported to police, but others have been.
Bedding plants and annuals are being targeted, and even established plants such as roses, ferns and perennials have been dug out and stolen.
“We put new plants in, and they disappear overnight. In the spring, we had all our tulips stolen for the second year in a row – there were up to 150 stems being cut each night,” Brown said.
The result was that the council was no longer putting tulips in one bedding display because they had been repeatedly targeted.
Brown said police had advised they could only take action if the thieves could be identified.
Security guards have not been brought in to monitor the site, but Brown said they “regularly review” security measures.
The repeated thefts were disappointing for visitors and selfish and dispiriting for the volunteers and staff who worked hard to keep the gardens looking beautiful for all to enjoy, Brown added.
Friends of the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and Mona Vale sub-committee member Susan Lawrence said she wanted to highlight the growing problem because many locals would feel as deeply about it as the volunteers did.
Diane Roberts, from Kaiapoi, visits Mona Vale a couple of times a week, bringing people from cruise ships to wander around the gardens and learn about its history.
She said those behind the thefts were the “lowest of the low”.
“Really? You can go to garden centres and pick up plants as cheap as chips.
“To come to anybody’s garden, whether it’s somebody’s house or a private residence, to do it, it’s not cool.”
Xavier Connolly, who goes to Mona Vale about once a week as a peaceful place to walk his dog, said the thefts were “disrespectful”.
He said he previously noticed the missing tulips after chatting with a caretaker at the homestead, who pointed it out.
“You could definitely see all the damage that had been done. Lots of flowers had been taken out, and if they weren’t taken out they were destroyed or stomped on.”
Connolly said it seemed a strange thing to steal. “Why flowers out of a nature reserve kind-of-place? It’s quite disrespectful, in all honesty, to all the people that look after it and put a lot of time into it.”
Mona Vale is home to a number of buildings of regional historic significance. They are surrounded by manicured gardens visited by thousands of people each year.
There are rose and iris gardens, woodland plantings along the Avon River and colour-themed borders.
“We’re extending a plea for people to come forward if they have any information which might help us identify possible offenders,” Brown said. “We’re asking the public to please let us know if they see or notice any suspicious behaviour.”