Casketeers star Francis Tipene 'over the moon' that funeral home's stolen artificial plants have been returned

Funeral director Francis Tipene, who starred in the TVNZ series The Casketeers, is thrilled his zero-maintenance artificial trees have been returned after someone carted them off in a heist earlier. Photo / Facebook

An Auckland funeral director is "over the moon" that he has his two beloved artificial plants back after a man stole them from one of the business' branches.

Francis Tipene, of Tipene Funerals, was both confused and dismayed when he saw the plants had been stolen from the company's Henderson Branch.

Tipene is the managing director, chief operations officer and senior funeral director at the company.

He also starred in TVNZ's The Casketeers - a documentary series about funeral directors.

His love for his leaf blower became a defining characteristic throughout the show, which often featured Tipene whipping out the instrument to banish pesky leaves
several times a day.

Funeral director Francis Tipene from Tipene Funerals says the trees provide a "soothing and warming" effect for mourners at the entrance to the funeral home. Photo / Dean Purcell.

The disappearance of the plants had therefore hit the funeral director hard.

"At the beginning when we found they were missing we were a little bit distraught, like why? Why would you do that?" he said.

"I have a bit of a thing with leaves, and I haven't been able to get my new leaf blower yet."

"So I had installed plastic plants to reduce the mess from foliage ... no mess and no maintenance you know."

Tipene jumped on Facebook where he posted about the theft, and appealed for help to find the thief and get his leafy loves back.

Within 20 minutes, he said, someone had messaged him to say they knew who the green-handed man was.

"We're over the moon - we just wanted them back," Tipene said.

The Facebook appeal worked wonders and the plants had since been returned.

He was thrilled with the help to restore his funeral home to its leafy best, with the plants providing a "soothing and warming" effect.