Flowers have been stolen from Abberley Park in recent weeks, frustrating a community group which regularly uses the park.
Pink cyclamens, a clump of daffodils, and some miniature iris’ were taken from the park, and a note left on a sign said the park user was disappointed to see the plant thief was back again.
A post on the Facebook page read: “Warning: Abberley Park’s ratbag plant thief is back. By the south entrance to the Scented Garden, there were four beautiful deep red cyclamens planted in a group. On Tuesday evening, there was only one left. The thief didn’t even bother to cover over the holes.”
In December last year, it was estimated more than half the plants put into the park by city council staff were stolen in less than a month.
A city council spokesman said the reason for thefts is not known, but in many cases across Christchurch, the city council has replaced some plants, he said there are various species stolen.
“For example, young native plants, azaleas, pieris, phormium and rhododendron.”
The city council does not keep records of where plant thefts occur, so it doesn’t know which area is more prevalent.
“These species [mentioned above] were taken from areas such as Coastal, Spencer Park, Travis Wetland, Beckenham Gardens, Karman Reserve and Sunny Side Heritage Gardens,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, about 30 plants were taken from a newly-planted city council plot, in Petrie St, Richmond.
