Theft at Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt

[Scrogdor]

This makes me sick. I walk here every couple of weeks to enjoy the garden. It makes me sick the people that steal them as well as the people who would buy these.

Maybe start chaining them together at night, unsure how to deter thefts.

 

[tigerscott79]

Shts unreal , few years back several nepenthes were stolen from well known nursery and police back then basically did same thing . We're I different when 1 it's stolen property and 2 worth alot . Regardless laws need changed and things need be much more prosecuted . Same as seeing people purposely kill dogs instead giving to pound or letting be adopted then getting like 200$ fines and 24 hr in jail time . Absolutely atrocious. hope they get caught whoever did this .

 

[Scrogdor]

Shts unreal , few years back several nepenthes were stolen from well known nursery and police back then basically did same thing . We're I different when 1 it's stolen property and 2 worth alot . Regardless laws need changed and things need be much more prosecuted . Same as seeing people purposely kill dogs instead giving to pound or letting be adopted then getting like 200$ fines and 24 hr in jail time . Absolutely atrocious. hope they get caught whoever did this .

It's grand theft, a felony. It's the same as stealing an expensive piece of art. Hopefully this becomes clear to authorities.

 

[tigerscott79]

It's grand theft, a felony. It's the same as stealing an expensive piece of art. Hopefully this becomes clear to authorities.

Yup sadly though they often don't take these things seriously its very upsetting and wrong..

 

[Weta]

So you want to steal Bonsai

 

[Cmd5235]

I wonder if you could slip an air tag into the soil medium on a large tree. Granted you'd have to replace the battery every year

 

[ACooke]

Argh this sucks, but I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often, especially with so many quality private collections just being kept in backyards.
I commonly find myself trying to think of a way to somewhat dissuade the potential for theft but typically they're burdensome, ugly (cable/chain internally connected to a pot, and to bench legs etc.) and not really realistic outside of maybe a tree or two. Certainly too difficult for a smaller tree which seems logically to be the most theft-prone.
The GPS device is probably the most promising sounding idea I've heard so far but the issues have been noted above.

It sucks that things like the above even need to be considered.

Unfortunately, i can't imagine cameras yield many positive results assuming the thieves are even remotely 'savvy', but are certain a good dissuasion and real-time alert.

Argh. My fingers are crossed these are found.

 

[YetiButt]

Yes there are cameras. We are accessing the images today.

Please post the surveillance video or at least the suspect or vehicle description.

 

[Ruddigger]

I wonder if its the same guys that were on camera hitting some SoCal spots last year. Jason Chan from Eastern Leaf put his security footage on one of his YouTube videos.

 

[Mikecheck123]

This is the problem.... quoted from the article.

"Volunteers reached out to Oakland police but say they got no response and no officers showed. We reached out to OPD and also got no response about the incident."

Oakland Police don't do shit. There were 14,700 car thefts in Oakland in just 2023. Let that sink in.

Things have gotten real bad real fast.

 

[Glaucus]

So sad. And here we were just talking about how in Tokyo you can leave your bonsai out on the sidewalk and no one will touch them.

Or about how they literally stole a bonsai out from the Kokufu...

Truth is theft happens in Japan as well. And the truth is that most bonsai are probably stolen by bonsai enthusiasts, not rando's.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

I hope the trees are found alive. Whoever purchases them may not know they were stolen. Important to ask about provenance when buying obviously high quality material.

 

[Adamski77]

The only combination of words coming to my mind now is WTF?!?!?!?

I’m really sorry for having to go through such a pain… crossing my fingers for some positive update here…

 

[Deleted member 47471]

What a shame. Thieves rob others of their hard work and joy, thus they carry the weight and stench of their crime for as long as the stolen trees are in their possession. Whatever emotion or pride they perceive is tainted with deceit and spoiled.

On the other hand, they are likely only concerned about selling them for profit (all about ). What a conundrum.

 

[Deleted member 47471]

Argh this sucks, but I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often, especially with so many quality private collections just being kept in backyards.
I commonly find myself trying to think of a way to somewhat dissuade the potential for theft but typically they're burdensome, ugly (cable/chain internally connected to a pot, and to bench legs etc.) and not really realistic outside of maybe a tree or two. Certainly too difficult for a smaller tree which seems logically to be the most theft-prone.
The GPS device is probably the most promising sounding idea I've heard so far but the issues have been noted above.

It sucks that things like the above even need to be considered.

Unfortunately, i can't imagine cameras yield many positive results assuming the thieves are even remotely 'savvy', but are certain a good dissuasion and real-time alert.

Argh. My fingers are crossed these are found.

Time to upgrade to metal fence, camouflaged with razors on top, motion-sensitive blinding LED lights, loud sirens, Dobermans and Pitbulls roaming freely throughout the garden.

 

[snowman04]

Used these in 'Nam a long time ago... Very effective deterrent...

 

[rockm]

One of the trees (the apricot) had been stolen before and turned up on Ebay and was recovered, according to news stories. The police want to know if any of the stolen trees wind up on Ebay this time as well.

And FWIW, public collections like this are vulnerable because they rely on public donations, or compete for grant funding, for the most part to operate. Security is expensive. The thieves broke through two fences (wooden and wire-they brought saws and wire cutters) to get access, as well as avoid surveillance cameras. Size of the stolen trees was a deterrent. The assholes left a large 60-lb redwood behind because it wouldn't fit through the hole in the fence. They also targeted the apricots because they were in bloom (flowers sell)

Bonsai trees stolen from Lake Merritt garden in Oakland

One of the trees taken is over 100 years old; another was stolen in the last several years but later recovered after garden volunteers located it on EBay.

www.mercurynews.com

Thieves steal $20K in trees from Oakland bonsai garden at Lake Merritt

One of the trees had been stolen in a previous theft and recovered after it was found on eBay.

www.sfchronicle.com

Rare and valuable bonsai trees stolen from Oakland public garden

A volunteer carefully attends to a large bonsai tree in the garden near Lake Merritt in Oakland, where 8 bonsai trees were stolen.

news.yahoo.com

 

[August44]

I understand cameras are there but what good are they. People that do these things are probably aware that they are on camera the whole time they are stealing the trees. They probably have masks, hoodies etc. It's hard for me to understand why people that have this type of trees, with the high values, don't have a motion sensor alarm system that sets off a loud siren and notifies the police at the same time. At the very least, notifies the owner of the trees so something can be done verses trying to figure out who, what, and where after the trees have been stolen and are gone.

 

[rockm]

I understand cameras are there but what good are they. People that do these things are probably aware that they are on camera the whole time they are stealing the trees. They probably have masks, hoodies etc. It's hard for me to understand why people that have this type of trees, with the high values, don't have a motion sensor alarm system that sets off a loud siren and notifies the police at the same time. At the very least, notifies the owner of the trees so something can be done verses trying to figure out who, what, and where after the trees have been stolen and are gone.

Of course high value trees should have motion sensor protection and dedicated lines to police stations. However, both are impractical in the real-world mostly because of costs and logistics. You really think collections don't understand their security needs? Of course they do. All of that costs money and thieves are crafty and adaptable. Even with motion sensors/alarms, etc., the cops have to get there (if it's not yet another false alarm that motion sensors regularly submit automatically to the cops--which can make such alarms low priority), thieves know that. Unless there's someone there 24/7 who can confront thieves--who may be armed and potentially violent-- there's no way to stop this kind of thing, unless you want to pay professional 24-hour security guards (which are well out the budgets for most collections)

You want to help with security and operations? Make a donation to the garden. Most bonsai collections open to the public rely on donations to operate. For instance, The National Bonsai and Penjing Museum became part of the National Bonsai Foundation in the early 80's after the collection had been part of the National Arboretum/US Dept. of Agriculture. The NBF became a public/private 501 (c) organization in 1982 to help support the museum financially through donations. There are security measures in place there that were implemented after previous thefts. Still doesn't stop people from being idiots. People steal stuff off of competition displays...

 

[vancehanna]

very disturbing. Keep you stuff locked and don't broadcast to neighbors....