Its Harlan County, theft is not quite the level of needing Raylan....

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Sheriff: Two men arrested for stealing a tree out of someone's yard



LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT)- Deputies from the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said they arrested two people for stealing a tree.

When deputies arrived to the home where the tree was taken out of the ground without permission, they said Michael Sizemore and Gentry Jones, both of Lily, were leaving in a pickup truck with the tree in the back.

Deputies were able to stop the truck, and said that Sizemore and Jones were both under the influence.

They were taken to the Laurel County Detention Center.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Deputies ... said that Sizemore and Jones were both under the influence.

Looking at those mugs, I'd say they were under the influence of STUPID.

I am not surprised. Somebody told them it was a METH tree.

I have plumeria trees out front and worry about those being stolen. Why was that tree so desirable?

About a hundred years ago, in a different life, I was in the Garden Center/ Landscape business. Many people don't realize just how valuable established mature plant material actually is.

A wholesale grower spends years planting, watering, fertilizing, pruning, bagging, or otherwise handling/ caring for larger trees and shrubs. Once the wholesale grower sells to a garden center and the garden center marks the material up before selling it to a customer, that tree or shrub in your yard can easily be sold to another home owner or commercial property for thousands of dollars.

Although when I was in the business it wasn't common, sadly, I saw several instances in which newly planted trees/ shrubs were ripped out of landscapes by thieves...presumably by "bush hogs", our term for those in the business that didn't have any horticulture education or knowledge, didn't use proper tools or techniques, weren't insured, didn't offer a warranty on their work, but could undercut our business by hiring out to customers for reduced rates.

One instance that broke my heart was seeing an established mature healthy beautifully shaped Blue Spruce cut down out of someone's yard, right before Christmas...obviously the thieves planned to sell it as a Christmas tree.

Well, it is Florida. Did they out it in the trunk?

Are we sure it wasn't a money tree? Or maybe they spotted a Leprechaun up in it.

quote:

Originally posted by George43:
Well, it is Florida. Did they out it in the trunk?

It was Kentucky, but I also was expecting this to be a "Florida Man" story.

And in Arizona;

They are not trees, but Cactus rustling — stealing or killing the state's iconic saguaros — is a felony. It's illegal to shoot or deface the iconic Cactus or to remove them from parks.

I’ve hauled single 40’ trees from nurseries in Oregon to Utah where the freight alone was $1800. The tree must sell for five digits. However, you couldn’t steal it with a pickup.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
I’ve hauled single 40’ trees from nurseries in Oregon to Utah where the freight alone was $1800. The tree must sell for five digits. However, you couldn’t steal it with a pickup.

Often these thieves, in their haste to steal the trees/ shrubs and get away before being observed, dig them out improperly and damage them, although the damage isn't always detected by the customer. The roots are so damaged the plants won't likely survive long term... but will survive long enough for the thieves to collect payment.

To properly remove established plants requires preparation, root pruning weeks/ months before actually transplanting them, proper tying of branches to prevent damage during handling, proper bagging and balling (B & B) and careful carriage to the vehicle they are being loaded into, and then properly securing and covering/ tarping. Lots of labor involved. Typically a Tree Spade vehicle is used for the really large material, which adds to the expense of the process.

If you see a landscaper dig out a large established tree or shrub and load it into a pick up truck, with all the work completed in a single day, be suspicious of either a thief, or at least someone not acting with knowledge.

If you're wondering why anyone would bother stealing a tree, I suspect you've never bought a mature tree from a nursery before...

They're expensive. Thousands of dollars. Sometimes many thousands of dollars.

I know they're expensive, but it would never occur to me to steal a tree. Guess I'm not very creative.

I once priced out a very expensive exotic palm tree for a hotel property - the 40' tall tree was listed as $35,000

Back in my younger days, in and just after high school I worked in a quick lube place.

Well, anyway they built a new building and picked some of the better employees to staff it for the Grand Opening.

We opened, and on the first day we were quite busy. Told job well done and they wanted us to come in a half hour early the next day to really clean the place up, make a good impression.

So the next day I arrived at the time told, I was first there. A few minutes later the manager showed up. But before he did I was standing there wondering what looked off. The manager gets there, gets out of his car and asked me what's up? I said, "does something look wrong to you? " about that time we both realized what the deal was.

Someone that night came by and stole about $30,000.00 worth of landscaping. Trees, shrubs, flowers, and mulch. Yep. Got most of it.

Call the main office, they called the police. Police officer came and wrote a report. Told us that it happens all the time.

Who knew!


ARman

And ! if you shoot them both deader than hell , on your property, YOU are then the bad guy

quote:

They are not trees, but Cactus rustling — stealing or killing the state's iconic saguaros — is a felony. It's illegal to shoot or deface the iconic Cactus or to remove them from parks.

The AZ parks department and DNR have been putting RFID chips in the Saguaros. They've busted quite a few folks.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
And ! if you shoot them both deader than hell , on your property, YOU are then the bad guy

Depends on the state.

Texas, for one, allows the use of deadly force in defense of your property, as long as certain specific additional criteria is met. But most states don't.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
And ! if you shoot them both deader than hell , on your property, YOU are then the bad guy

Depends on the state.

Texas, for one, allows the use of deadly force in defense of your property, as long as certain specific additional criteria is met. But most states don't.

It's variable, even here in TX. I would not bank on anything.

https://www.fox4news.com/news/...hot-burglary-suspect

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
And ! if you shoot them both deader than hell , on your property, YOU are then the bad guy

Maybe the tree will grow better when it's replanted with some fresh fertilizer under it.