How to prevent bonsai theft?

[Manbris]

Hi,

As your collection grow and you spend more time and resources on your bonsai projects with time, say you have over 50 trees and live in a city.

Has anyone experienced theft of your trees? And how do you prevent it?

My theory is large trees are heavy and probably not a thing for regular thieves and not easy to sell for cash? So I guess the probability is low.

Well- my neighbour just mentioned I might be a bit more careful with my trees as their friend got bonsai trees stolen many years ago. I got cctv and lights in my garden front and back and have gates and locks at access points. Not sure what else to be done.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[rockm]

Hi,

As your collection grow and you spend more time and resources on your bonsai projects with time, say you have over 50 trees and live in a city.

Has anyone experienced theft of your trees? And how do you prevent it?

My theory is large trees are heavy and probably not a thing for regular thieves and not easy to sell for cash? So I guess the probability is low.

Well- my neighbour just mentioned I might be a bit more careful with my trees as their friend got bonsai trees stolen many years ago. I got cctv and lights in my garden front and back and have gates and locks at access points. Not sure what else to be done.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Large trees. Like 50-150 lbs ( 20-70 kg) trees are not easy to steal and are pretty conspicuous. all my trees are in that range

If you have a yard Keep trees out sight behind a tall opaque fence with a locked gate. Don’t out them “on view” for the neighborhood. It is very hard to get a three foot tall 60 kg tree over a seven foot plank fence. It can be done but it can be noisy and painful for whoever is lifting it

Don’t talk about your trees with people you don’t know very well particularly younger people (teenagers)

Install automatic lighting and cameras

Get a relatively ugly but athletic dog. It doesn’t have to aggressive just present Walk that dog publicly and let people know you have it.

Take photos of your trees WITH YOU IN THE PHOTO. Keep those photos with you important papers for possible ID for the police if needed

Also be resigned that “it’s just a tree” if someone wants it they will find a way to get it. Most public bonsai museums in the U.S. have had at least one tree stolen in their history. It happens. It sucks

 

[River's Edge]

Hi,

As your collection grow and you spend more time and resources on your bonsai projects with time, say you have over 50 trees and live in a city.

Has anyone experienced theft of your trees? And how do you prevent it?

My theory is large trees are heavy and probably not a thing for regular thieves and not easy to sell for cash? So I guess the probability is low.

Well- my neighbour just mentioned I might be a bit more careful with my trees as their friend got bonsai trees stolen many years ago. I got cctv and lights in my garden front and back and have gates and locks at access points. Not sure what else to be done.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Not sure that size matters or is a deterrent. Plenty of larger trees go missing every year from large and small collections.
If possible keep your collection situated in the yard so it is not clearly visible from the street/alley. This is an important consideration if possible. Particularly if you live in town or the city. Sometimes this can be accomplished with larger gates, landscape changes etc.
I second the motion detector lights and cameras. Although the pictures rarely show enough to identify or apprehend the culprits.
Avoid using signs that advertise your hobby.. ( trying to sell lots of small stuff to the general public that walks or drives by.)
In other words keep a bit lower general public profile.
Dogs are a good deterrent in most cases. Neighbours that keep an eye out can be very helpful.
If you have very high value trees then you may wish to secure them to display stands, add tracking tags and have someone take care of your place when you are away!
Photos of trees and pots for insurance purposes are a great step. They are also very useful in development and general Bonsai activities.
Your neighbour is right!
They do go missing and it is sensible to take some steps to prevent and or deter.

 

[rockm]

One thing to keep in mind is that Bonsai that are stolen out of yards or porches other locations at home are typically crimes of opportunity by people who are ignorant of bonsai. The easier it is to take something the more likely it is to be taken. Size is certainly a deterrent. If you can’t a block or to a vehicle with 150 lb tree without being noticed your not going to bother.

 

[vp999]

Don't post vacation pics on your social medias until you are home...You don't want people to know that you're not home for an extended period of time.

 

[Japonicus]

Do these air tags and android trackers still emit a strong enough signal if in bottom of pot
to track a traveling bonsai?
For battery life could someone make recommendations? I use android.
Found on Amazon using CR2032 battery lasting up to a year. Is that typical life?

 

[rockm]

There’s this. Same tech to microchip dogs. Doesn’t track but it can prove a bonsai is yours. Sign I the garden that trees are chipped might slow someone https://www.bon-tag.com/about-us/

 

[Coppersdad]

I have some strong opinions on this subject. So, in advance, when I pop your balloon or destroy your illusions, I am intending to do it kindly. I do it without malice and with a good heart.

Cameras will give you a really nice memento of your tree theft.​

"Air Tags" batteries need changing... often. And, when they need it most, a thief will strike or he'll just remove it.​

Microchips, no matter where you install/hide them, need a specialized reader immediately next to them to read the ID number. Might help in an ownership dispute on a tree. But, I suggest it won't be much help to recover a stolen tree.​

Fastening a tree to a bench does make it immovable for the thief and the owner.​

Fences and locked gates can slow down but won't stop a determined thief.​

Please keep in mind most bonsai thefts are more crimes of opportunity and most thieves are sneaky opportunists and are adverse to being discovered.

• So, a fence works to keep your collection from being seen by strangers/passers-by.
• Motion lighting works by illuminating a criminal in your garden. (They don't like that.)
• A noisy walking surface in the garden always make noise, night and day. (Bad guys prefer to not make noise when they're being bad guys.) [My garden is covered with 2 inch, washed, crush granite. It'll never become a packed surface and will always make a noise when walked on.]

If a thief doesn't know you have bonsai, he probably won't try to steal them.
With this in mind there are several things you can do right now to make it less likely your bonsai will be stolen:

Hide them. That is, don't display them publicly around your home/garden. A fence is good. A taller fence might be better.​

Be aware of who you speak to about your hobby. Ask your family members to be cautious and considerate of your bonsai security.​

Be conscious of who visits your home. (I once saw a video of a delivery man in a brown truck who made a delivery to the front of a home in late evening while the owners were away. He then picked up a flashlight and proceeded to walk through and study each of the bonsai on display in a secluded front yard.)​

Be aware of all visitors. If a child is on a playdate at your house and then mentions to her mother something about your trees in pots within the hearing of the mother's new boyfriend...​

Am I saying you should be suspicious? I prefer to say be prudent. Be prudent in who it is who knows you have trees and who sees your trees.​

Finally, DON'T BRAG. Stay off social media. If you must do that kind of stuff for an ego boost, make certain no one can locate your garden.

And, if you're a bonsai professional, you'll do what you gotta do. I wish you well.

I do share this with respect to any and all other opinions.

 

[The Barber]

My deterrents are a 225 pound male great dane that stands as tall as my sternum, a 110 pound female great dane, along with a 85 pound pitt mastiff mix. Only a fool would get out of a vehicle with a dog that is bigger than they are, friendly or not, would you want to chance it?

 

[Manbris]

I have some strong opinions on this subject. So, in advance, when I pop your balloon or destroy your illusions, I am intending to do it kindly. I do it without malice and with a good heart.

Cameras will give you a really nice memento of your tree theft.​

"Air Tags" batteries need changing... often. And, when they need it most, a thief will strike or he'll just remove it.​

Microchips, no matter where you install/hide them, need a specialized reader immediately next to them to read the ID number. Might help in an ownership dispute on a tree. But, I suggest it won't be much help to recover a stolen tree.​

Fastening a tree to a bench does make it immovable for the thief and the owner.​

Fences and locked gates can slow down but won't stop a determined thief.​

Please keep in mind most bonsai thefts are more crimes of opportunity and most thieves are sneaky opportunists and are adverse to being discovered.

• So, a fence works to keep your collection from being seen by strangers/passers-by.
• Motion lighting works by illuminating a criminal in your garden. (They don't like that.)
• A noisy walking surface in the garden always make noise, night and day. (Bad guys prefer to not make noise when they're being bad guys.) [My garden is covered with 2 inch, washed, crush granite. It'll never become a packed surface and will always make a noise when walked on.]

If a thief doesn't know you have bonsai, he probably won't try to steal them.
With this in mind there are several things you can do right now to make it less likely your bonsai will be stolen:

Hide them. That is, don't display them publicly around your home/garden. A fence is good. A taller fence might be better.​

Be aware of who you speak to about your hobby. Ask your family members to be cautious and considerate of your bonsai security.​

Be conscious of who visits your home. (I once saw a video of a delivery man in a brown truck who made a delivery to the front of a home in late evening while the owners were away. He then picked up a flashlight and proceeded to walk through and study each of the bonsai on display in a secluded front yard.)​

Be aware of all visitors. If a child is on a playdate at your house and then mentions to her mother something about your trees in pots within the hearing of the mother's new boyfriend...​

Am I saying you should be suspicious? I prefer to say be prudent. Be prudent in who it is who knows you have trees and who sees your trees.​

Finally, DON'T BRAG. Stay off social media. If you must do that kind of stuff for an ego boost, make certain no one can locate your garden.

And, if you're a bonsai professional, you'll do what you gotta do. I wish you well.

I do share this with respect to any and all other opinions.

Really good advice.

Already not on social media, but the do not brag bit hit me hard, I like to show only my next door neighbour - 80 year old keen gardener my new purchases - really just say look at the bark it is a 40 year old tree etc… then tight community words would go around. I should stop that.

 

[fredman]

Yeah they jumped my fence and stole some trees a few years ago.
I since put us 2 dummy cameras, serious motion detecting lights and I installed a high quality motion and heat sensing beam alarm.
Nothing moves in my garden without me knowing about it now....

 

[leatherback]

Nothing moves in my garden without me knowing about it now....

yeah, here either. Just need to lock the dog out of the area covered with the detectors. WHich invites the neighbours'cat and you find yourself at 1AM looking at a surprised cat in your nightdress.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Hi,

As your collection grow and you spend more time and resources on your bonsai projects with time, say you have over 50 trees and live in a city.

Has anyone experienced theft of your trees? And how do you prevent it?

My theory is large trees are heavy and probably not a thing for regular thieves and not easy to sell for cash? So I guess the probability is low.

Well- my neighbour just mentioned I might be a bit more careful with my trees as their friend got bonsai trees stolen many years ago. I got cctv and lights in my garden front and back and have gates and locks at access points. Not sure what else to be done.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Tactical shotgun

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

About 2 years ago I visited the garden of the chairman of one of the bonsai assosiations in the Netherlands to look at a tree for sale.

He told me that there were 2 trees recently stolen from him. A few days before the theft he had seen a drone flying over his garden.
The thieves have probably scouted his garden with the drone to know where the trees were located.
After that the thieves wrecked a gate / fence to get access to the garden and they stole the two trees.

The trees were probably stolen on order and it tells me that if they know you have nice trees and they want to have it they will come and get it.
That's one of the main reasons that I don't show any of my nicer trees on this forum and I don't use social media platforms.

If people with bad intensions don't know you have nice trees it's not likely that they will get stolen.

 

[MaciekA]

Nobody's mentioned self-doxxing via photography so here goes:

As a person who enjoys the sport of geoguessing (guessing the precise location of where a photo was taken with zero or minimal other hints -- too late for OP as they've mentioned their part of England), I strongly recommend never posting pictures of your garden ever, from any angle whatsoever. It doesn't matter how tight the photo angle is and how insignificant you think the identifying details in the photo are, geoguessing techniques are extremely sophisticated to an outrageous degree these days. A single picture of your garden with a tiny bit of your home's back wall, a general location hint from your profile and the knowledge that you likely have rows of tables visible from aerial views is actually a generously-rich set of hints to narrow down exactly where to send thieves.

Earlier this year, at the request of a friend who was travelling to Japan and wanted to assemble a contact list, I located a garden in Shizuoka from a single in-garden photo using these techniques, and it only took a few hours, and this is solely using hints like the unique style of beams on the side of the house, the appearance of a water tank in the background, knowing which prefecture it was, and the likely sun angle. If you have any fancy trees you're proud of or you want to take those insurance photos, use a plain backdrop. Keep buildings, structures, walls, windows, roads, and any landmarks out of your pictures.

 

[Nybonsai12]

In order to deter thieves i keep my house looking as beat to shit as possible. Out of date shingle siding, crab grass in the front, cracked asphalt, unkempt shrubbery.. absolutely zero curb appeal.

Thieves show up and think my place has already been hit.

 

[Lara_Ericacious]

As a person who enjoys the sport of geoguessing

It's not my cup of tea but I've had youtube videos pop up of geoguessers. It's actually insane how they can work out an exact location of a photograph which could be anywhere in the world, all based on a crack in the pavement, or the colour of grass etc.

Is locational information still stored in exif data of digital photos too?

 

[MaciekA]

Is locational information still stored in exif data of digital photos too?

EXIF is ingested, but then stripped by most (if not all) social media and probably auction (ebay, etc) platforms too. I imagine a warrant can reveal that information (since it's still in a database somewhere) but at that point it's only visible to law enforcement, social media employees with elevated access, and (maybe) some subcontractors.

There's not much cleverness involved in the geoguessing party trick, it's mostly sitting at a computer and working through clues, narrowing down search space step by step. So lack of EXIF isn't a huge barrier overall, since a few hours of youtube learning can get you pretty competent at pinpointing street corners and such, and that is in the Geoguessr web game user interface where you are very limited. A back yard garden is more challenging to find using those day-one skills, but on the other hand, in "real world" challenges (outside of the Geoguessr game website itself), there are many other clues, and when you aren't limited by the game UI, you can rely on a multitude of side-searches to narrow things down ("where do recycling bins look like <this>? which midwest cities do water towers look like <that>?"). Narrowing down to a city is the biggest assist.

So, given that many on this forum narrow the search down to a city / state / province / small region with their profile and their statements in posts and comments, it is good to reduce the spillage of additional clues and any in-photo assists that could be used to uniquely identify your location, say, by the style of the backyard fence, a stain on the roof, an RV in the driveway, a greenhouse, recycling/trash bin style, a shed, or any bigger backgroudn landmarks (urban infrastructure, hills / mountains / rivers, signs, buildings, water towers, etc).

 

[Cadillactaste]

I live at a private lake. Where if a strange vehicle is noted. People take notice.

My god child's father was held until the deputy sheriff arrived...as we had given him permission to enter our home. Neighbors knew we were at church.

Another instance a phone call to stay inside as a neighbor investigated shadows in my backyard. It was deer.

My going out wee hours of the morning and a neighbor away caught my flashlight on my phone. And come to investigate with his protection drawn. On me... we have an understanding...I should not do that in the wee hours of the morning. Either grab a tree for Instagram the night before or wait for the sun to come up. Or...turn on my back light.

I honestly feel pretty safe.

 

[stubmle]

My approach: don't have anything worth stealing!

On a more serious note, there is a lot of good advice in this thread. Security through obscurity is the best policy. If someone is determined enough & thinks it's worth it, no amount of security will keep them out. Take sensible precautions, sure- motion floodlights are cheap- but it's best not to attract attention in the first place. Locks & no-trespassing signs only work on honest people!