Plant thieves take valuable box tree

3:08pm Monday 22nd October 2001

A FURIOUS Bromley resident has been led up the garden path by thieves who have stolen a plant she spent years cultivating.

Furious Judith Everett, of Petts Wood, has already been bonsai burgled twice after she left her magnificent magnolias outside her door.

Now she is putting up a £100 reward for the return of her prized privet after it was stolen by bush rustlers.

The plant is a highly original box tree which has been carefully trimmed for years to resemble the shape of the number “5”.

Mrs Everett, 60, said: “I have already had two plants stolen from me by people who take my plants from outside my front door.

“I want it back as it is one of my prized shrubs which I have cultivated for more than five years.”

The keen gardener has put up a £100 reward to anyone who can track down her plant, which is two feet tall and contained in a plant pot.

Anyone who has information about the plant, which Mrs Everett thinks may be sold on in a car boot sale, can get in touch with her by calling her on 01689 870344 or the police on 01689 891212.