‘Disheartening’ thefts from Summerland municipal garden beds on the rise this season

Dozens of plants have been disappearing from municipal garden beds in Summerland, B.C., this season.

“It’s just really disheartening,” said Heather Manoag, the District of Summerland’s gardener.  “Our parks department is trying to make the town look nice for everyone and not just residents but also tourists.

The thefts started back in May but have ramped up in recent weeks.

The district estimates that up to 75 plants have been stolen thus far.

“I do check everything daily, just to make sure that all our irrigation is working and everything is alive,” Manoag said. “So just noticing the large holes that weren’t there the day before and I know what I had planted and what was there so it’s pretty easy to spot.”

The plant thefts have occurred all over the small south Okanagan community, even in front of the municipal hall and the local RCMP detachment.

“Your taxpayer dollars are going in to make this community look so beautiful and so it’s just really disappointing that some people think that they’re more important than the whole community,” said Summerland’s mayor Doug Holmes.

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The plant theft isn’t new but according to district officials is the worst it’s ever been.

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“Maybe it’s a hard, you know, a tough year to grow plants, so maybe people see that and say, yeah, well I’ll take these, these look good,” Holmes told Global News. But I have no idea. I can only speculate.”

Residents of Summerland also expressed disappointment that someone is stealing plants.

“I don’t know what to think, it’s kind of a weird thing to steal,” said Ryan Colley.

“That’s terrible,” said Eleanore Van Horne. “They should go buy their own. They are here to make the town look nice.”

According to Holmes, the thefts amount to about a $2,000 loss for the municipality but it’s the bigger picture the mayor is concerned about.

“The point is like what kind of community we want to be, you know, we could set up surveillance cameras and stuff, but do we want to be a community that you know…has to put surveillance on plants,” Holmes said.

The mayor said he wants everyone to be aware what is going on in hopes of putting a stop to the plant thefts once and for all.

“Keep an eye out and if people sees something unusual going on in the roundabouts you know, let us know,” Holmes added.

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