Thursday, July 28, 2011

Plants stolen in Falmouth hours before garden judges' visit

A THIEF who wrecked a floral display on Penmere Station in Falmouth just a day before judges for the town's garden competition were due to arrive has been condemned.
A large planter on the platform was stripped of every single marigold some time during Thursday night – but the theft was not discovered until Friday afternoon, leaving volunteers from the Friends of Penmere Station with only hours to replace the flowers before the judges appeared.

Janet Peacock, who with her husband David found the empty planter, said: "We just went up after lunch on Friday to pick up any litter and discovered it.
"They must have come prepared, as we searched everywhere for the plants thinking they'd been thrown away, but they were nowhere to be seen. They'd been dug up from the planter quite carefully and taken away.
"We did our best by re- jigging the plants and using whatever we had at our disposal to make the planter look good for the judges."
Steve Lloyd, honorary chairman of the Friends, said he was sure the plants were stolen.
"It wasn't children just throwing them around; they had been dug up and stolen," he said. "Someone had actually gone up to steal to order.
"It's not very nice to think that someone did that and took them away.
"I could understand it more if it was kids just throwing them around. Stealing is much worse than vandalism.
"I do feel a bit bitter knowing they've been stolen by an adult. So many people use the station and there are trains every half-hour so they must have gone up there some time between the last train on Thursday and the first one on Friday.
"It's so sad, because the planter did look fantastic."
Mr and Mrs Peacock worked wonders, however, and had the planter redesigned when the judges arrived on Saturday.
"It did look OK for the judges and we're still waiting to hear how we did in the competition," said Mr Lloyd.
With the judging over, Mr and Mrs Peacock decided to find new plants to replace the stolen marigolds, and while travelling on a bus were offered a supply by a man who lives near the station.
The Friends of Penmere Station have been tending to the platform and gardens for 18 years and during that time have won several awards for their efforts.

(Reproduced from ThisIsCornwall, 28th July 2011)

Gardien Tip:  The only real answer here is CCTV but we appreciate that it is impossible to cover every square metre of every place in town. Sadly, nothing surprises any more.

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