Thief stealing plants from Beacon Hill gardens

Spring is here, and Beaconians’ thoughts are turning to gardening — but at least one person around here has turned his thoughts to theft. Two posters on the mailing list have reported thefts of shrubs, trees, and flowers from neighborhood gardens.

One neighbor, April, reported on Monday, “We had two shrubs stolen a little after midnight on Sunday, our neighbor had several newly planted shrubs stolen recently and El Centro has had some flowers that were donated to them stolen.”

Another neighbor, Cat, added today, “On April 21 – 22, 2009 four of the recent plants I had put in the ground in front of my fence on 16th Ave S were stolen. Last weekend my neighbor on Bayview had another large plant stolen. She has also had a tree stolen, some pavers, and other small plants taken from the side of her yard. The Cesar Chavez memorial garden at El Centro de la Raza has also had plant thefts. The thief is watching and making sure to target houses that have just recently planted new shrubs or trees so he could be local.”

This is not necessarily a new situation around the Hill. Garden thefts have been happening in the area for the last year or so, including a theft of two large planters from in front of The Beacon condominiums near the Red Apple last September.

The current series of thefts are generally occurring at night, between 11:00 pm and midnight. A suspect has been photographed by security cameras; he’s a middle-aged balding man who smokes.

Has your garden been a victim of this thief or thieves?

7 thoughts on “Thief stealing plants from Beacon Hill gardens”

  1. This is happening all over town. I had a 6 year old Magnolia in a huge pot (I could have sat in it) taken from my home in Ballard about 18 months ago. This is likely someone doing landscaping, and charging a client for the plants as if he had purchased them. Mine was taken near midnight, and whoever did it had to have had help, as the pot weighed too much for one person to move alone, and had to have had a truck as it would not have fit in anything smaller. Unfortunately with all that the police have to deal with, this is pretty low on the to-do list, so it just keeps happening. Good that you got a photo, however. People who pay a third party to obtain plants need to ask questions if there is no nursery tag.

  2. I had several potted rhodies, some gardening tools, and my porch furniture stolen about two years ago.

  3. Hi,
    Plants have been stolen from my garden for years. I actually hace caught several thieves, and they all fit into one category, sadly.
    Yes, they do watch, and notice everything.
    Canvas the neighborhood, and try to spot any new suspicious plantings that may look like your plants.
    Put some distinctive making on the bark, such as a little branding mark with a number or name , so you can identify it as yours.
    If you do catch someone, you need to take action, registering it with the police. This IS a crime, I’ve lost several hundred dollars woth of material.
    Rick

  4. A year ago I had bought 3 beautiful new flower pots for my front yard. I planted some bulbs in them and the next morning found someone had dumped out two of them and taken them. Who the &%$#@ steals flower pots????

  5. You have apparently run your garden thief off – he is now working in Ballard again – see Myballard.com blog

  6. I live on 16th. Perhaps a year ago someone stole a small dwarf conifer from my parking strip. I had put in artichokes and a few flowers and this little tree. Bummer because it was kindof a cool tree, but it was only a $5 tree. It’s just weird. I have a lot of eyes on the prize now, and a continous presence of people, so we should catch the theives should they attempt again in my zone.

  7. I write about my blog in my community of Renton, and just yesterday a dear friend had a planter stolen in the middle of the day right from under her window. She was away at the P-Patch at the time, and is really heartsore by the theft. I encouraged her to call the local police, only to hear that 2 other thefts of the same nature had been reported that very day. I will be writing about it in my blog tomorrow. Just wanted to share and thanks for your info on your blog.

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