Plant thieves strike again in Kensington

A Kensington resident has been left fuming after a green-fingered thieves stole pot plants from her front yard.

Sarah, who asked not to use her surname, said someone had entered her front gate on McCracken St sometime on August 30 before taking off with two decorative pots filled with succulents sitting on the steps of her front yard.

The incident comes after North West City News reported in November last year that residents were installing home security cameras and padlocking their gates as they sought to ward off low-life thieves targeting their gardens.

Sarah said while the pots were not of sentimental value as she collected many of her pots from people giving them away or from hard rubbish, she was disturbed opportunistic thieves had targeted her home.

“It has left me feeling frustrated, violated and extremely angry. More police patrolling would be good as it is not just garden theft that goes on around here,” she said.

Sarah said she had discovered the pot plants missing upon her return from the shops after her husband had noticed the front gate open.

She said neither she or her neighbours had CCTV and had turned to social media in the hope that someone may have witnessed the incident but to no avail.

“I have come to accept that I probably won’t get my potted plants back and to be honest I’m surprised it hasn’t happened earlier. I have had someone pull plants out of my front yard before, but pots have never been taken,” she said.

She added someone had uprooted some large succulents from her front yard a few years back when one of her gate’s latches was broken and left ajar.

Victoria Police crime prevention officer Glenn McFarlane said victims of plant theft should make a police report and recommended that residents install motion sensor lights and CCTV to deter possible offenders. •

Caption: Pot plants were stolen from the front yard of a Kensington home.