$20K worth of ‘living art’ stolen in Oakland bonsai tree heist
About $20,000 worth of bonsai trees were stolen overnight at a volunteer-run Oakland garden — the garden’s fourth theft in two years, according to its assistant director.
Suzanne Muller, assistant director of the Bonsai Garden in Lake Merritt, said thieves broke through the garden’s wooden walls and cut through the metal fence surrounding the trees to get to them. Surveillance footage showed them entering first around 9:21 p.m. Wednesday and then again at 4:20 a.m., Muller said.
Eight trees were taken — the most that have ever been stolen from the garden at once, according to Muller. They include a hinoki cypress that was about 50 years old, she said. The security footage showed the thieves attempted to take a ninth tree — a 60-pound redwood — but weren’t able to fit it through the hole in the wall, Muller said.
She estimates the stolen trees were worth about $20,000 total.
“You can put a dollar amount on these trees, but technically they’re priceless, because you’ll never find another tree like it. It’s not like you can go out and buy a replacement tree,” Muller said.
The Bonsai Gardens at Lake Merritt is a public garden in Lakeside Park that’s home to several historic bonsai trees, including many that are donated from the community, Muller said. The garden is home to some trees that are more than 1,000 years old, including one gifted to the United States by Japan during Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. The garden will celebrate its 25th anniversary this November.
In recent years, the garden has seen more thefts, and more sophisticated thefts at that, according to Muller. Whereas previous cases involved people jumping over the garden’s walls and taking what they could carry with them, Muller said Wednesday’s thieves brought a saw to help cut through the fence surrounding the trees.
The garden reported the theft to Oakland police and shared the surveillance footage with them, according to Muller.
Oakland police confirmed they’re investigating the theft and ask anyone with information to contact the Criminal Investigation Division at 510-2383728.
Muller said the garden also hopes people will keep an eye out if they see any bonsai trees being sold online. One of the trees stolen Wednesday night had been taken in a previous theft and recovered after someone found it on eBay, according to Muller.
Many of the garden’s trees are donated by people who have taken care of them their whole lives but become unable to keep them as they grow older, Muller said. She said garden staff worry the repeated thefts might deter people from wanting to donate their trees for the public to appreciate.
“It’s just incredibly devastating for the bonsai community,” Muller said. “Our trees are very, very old and beautiful. They’re a work of living art. To have this kind of thing happen continuously, it’s going to devastate the garden, and it’s going to devastate the community.”