Twelve plants were stolen from the Winter Gardens in Rotokawau Virginia Lake recently.
Twelve plants were stolen from the Winter Gardens in Rotokawau Virginia Lake recently.
The theft of plants from the Winter Gardens at Rotokawau Virginia Lake has the Whanganui District Council pleading for the stealing to stop.
The latest theft happened over the weekend of March 15-16, with 12 plants taken from the Winter Gardens.
The council posted to Facebook pleading for the culprits to stop and for the community to keep a watchful eye out for any suspicious activity.
Council chief executive David Langford said the theft of plants in the district was disappointing.
“Those plants are paid for by the ratepayer and one way to keep rates down is by not having to spend money replacing the nice things that make Whanganui a great place because someone has pinched them,” he said.
“We want to do nice things for Whanganui - it is a great place for people to live - but those things come at a cost and they cost twice as much when we have to do them twice.”
He said replacing specific plants was not as easy as taking a trip to the garden centre.
Earlier this year the council posted to Facebook condemning a January incident at the Bason Botanic Gardens in which thieves targeted the Tunnel House and the Blanche Bason Glasshouse.
Bason Botanic Gardens was targeted by plant thieves earlier in 2025.
Additional CCTV security cameras were installed at Bason Botanic Gardens, and the Winter Gardens has also had more CCTV installed.
Langford urged the community to keep a watchful eye on any suspicious activity in vulnerable areas of Whanganui and to contact the police if necessary.
“Whilst council is a large organisation, we’ve got huge open spaces and we don’t have enough staff to keep an eye on everything all the time so if the community can help if they see something suspicious, then phone the police.
“We obviously wouldn’t want anybody to put themselves into personal danger. We don’t want people going and intervening directly but if they can help us to stop this kind of behaviour, it will be much appreciated.
“It’ll mean that we don’t have to spend money on things like CCTV cameras because, once again, they need to be paid for and it is the ratepayer that pays and it is a shame that we have to do this kind of thing.”
If people visiting the Winter Gardens or other public places spot anything suspicious, they can report it to police by calling 105. People can also alert them to stolen plants being resold online.
