Don’t leave those palm trees alone

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- It’s not that diamond ring or those sapphire earrings

that they are after. Thieves these days are instead walking away with

palm trees, police say.

The city has seen a sharp rise in the number of expensive palm trees that

are being dug up and stolen from people’s front yards, said Sgt. Steve

Shulman.

Most recently a Newport Heights resident reported 20 cycad palms stolen

from his yard, each tree valued at $200, a total loss of $4,000.

“They were probably small trees, but are still expensive,” Shulman said.

A Dover Shores resident also lost nine trees that were in planters. The

palms that varied in height from 2 to 12 feet were valued at $30,000.

“I guess these people are after the trees because they are expensive and

take a long time to grow,” Shulman said.

“We’re hoping people stay vigilant and pay more attention to these

incidents and report them to us. It takes more than a few minutes to

remove palm trees.”

He said the holidays may be a perfect time for these thieves to get to

work because most people are on vacation and out of town.

“They need to inform their neighbors so they can report if anything

suspicious goes on,” Shulman said.

He said so far nobody has reported one of these burglaries in progress.

“It could be that [the burglars] are dressed like landscaping workers or

even city maintenance workers,” he said.

Shulman suggested if anybody witnesses a burglary in progress they call

(949)644-3717 to report the incident rather than 911.

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .