Nearly two dozen ficus trees stolen from Palm Springs home

William Verdell moved to the Palm Springs area back in July and immediately began upgrading his new home.

He says he planted a tow of privacy trees in September and has enjoyed seeing them mature over the past few months.

That is until Sunday morning, when Verdell went out to grab his newspaper and discovered that most of his trees had disappeared.

“I went to bed around midnight, turned the lights out. Saw the trees and then when I came out around 7 a.m. they were gone,” Verdell said.

The trees were ripped away from their places and hoisted away.

“They just pulled them right out, pulled the truck up and took all the trees,” Verdell said.

Only three plants, some dirt, a few footprints and tire tracks were left behind.

“I think that a landscaper had a job, came, took a certain amount- 22 plants- and put them in someone else’s yard yesterday,” Verdell said.

Neighbors say they are shocked.

“Well it’s distressing and it’s surprising that someone could get away with that many trees and dig them all up but unfortunately, it’s probably not completely unheard of around here,” said Terry Dean, a neighbor.

Verdell said he has filed a police report and hopes someone sees the story and comes forward with more information.

“I don’t like it. I thought Palm Springs was different. I didn’t think that happened here but obviously, it does,” Verdell said.

The mild weather here in the valley has many residents revamping their yards. We reached out to Macias Nursery in Thousand Palms, they say the bigger the plant is, the less likely it can be stolen like this. They suggest homeowners use wire to tether less mature plants to the landscape until their roots set in.

While it wasn’t the case in this theft, you should make sure that plants are put into the ground right away. It is more often the case that product is stolen when it is sitting in front of a home, waiting to be planted.