(RightIsRight.co) – Crime across America is running so rampant that it is even impacting the country’ flora, as authorities at a National Historic Landmark in Missouri are decrying a recent wave of plants being stolen from its grounds.
“Tower Grove Park has experienced an alarming amount of plant theft from our beautiful display beds!” the management of Tower Grove Park (TGP) in St. Louis said in a recently released statement.
“Nearly 200 plants (tropicals and annuals) are stolen each year, resulting in thousands of dollars lost for the Park,” the statement added.
Furthermore, TGP staff and volunteers plant about 17,000 tulips, 3,600 annuals, and 350 tropical in the park’s display beds annually.
While the park spends around $11,000 on plants, not counting the labor and resources needed to nurture them, the staff and volunteers also spend months cultivating the plants in an on-site greenhouse.
The statement also pointed out that volunteers often receive free plants, and they do not have the need to steal them.
In turn, the park’s authorities urged the public to report any suspicious activity to the park’s rangers via phone and email.
As the statement sparked reactions online, commenters called the thefts “awful,” “terrible,” and “disgusting.” “This town is full of grifters,” one person said. Another added, “Come on, people. Be better.”
“The city has a lot off riff raff pouring out into the streets and parks. People’s front porches and gardens are not exempt either. If it’s placed outside, then expect vandalism or theft,” another remarked.
Also, another person stated that they saw some kids pulling up the lily pads by the stone fountain, and they called the ranger and were told that no one was on duty over the weekend.
TGP officially opened to the public in 1872, and its main designer, 19th-century merchant philanthropist Henry Shaw, gifted it to St. Louis.
According to a municipal government statement, it is “the largest and best preserved 19th-century Gardenesque style city park in the United States.”
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