Anger over stolen trees

When Gaileen and Doug Timanus moved into their new home four months ago, the Waitete Stream on their back doorstep was one of the attractions.
But what should have been a relaxed morning walk there with her grandchildren last Tuesday turned into horror for Gaileen.
A Japanese pine she and her husband had planted on the property boundary was missing - pulled out and taken overnight.
Spade cuts and holes in the ground also marked the former positions of a dozen rimu, totara and kauri trees, planted beside the walkway as part of the Wild About Waihi programme (formerly the Habitat Enhancement and Landcare Partnership). Some were over two metres in height, says Gaileen.
One young tree was left on the streambank and another found leaning against the reserve boundary fence at the Toomey St road-end. There, the "pickings" were apparently loaded into a vehicle near the only streetlight, she says.
"I don't know whether the thieves were disturbed, or just couldn't fit all the trees in. However, one of the neighbours may have heard or seen something."
To the distress of Waihi resident Michael Masters, among the stolen natives was a rimu his family knew as "Nana's tree".
It marked the site where the ashes of his grandparents Marj and Dick Scothern were scattered.
Family members planted it "as a memorial" after Mrs Scothern's death in August 2009, he says.
"She wanted her ashes [and those of her late husband] sprinkled near a stream.
"She'd been interested in the planting programme and the Waihi College students who helped with it, especially as her son David taught at the school and Waitete Stream wasn't far from her home in Seddon Ave."
Michael says he and his partner Heather regularly cleared long grass from the foot of the rimu and mulched around it. "Anyone could see that it was cared for," he says, and it was a "quiet place" that family members could visit.
"What really narks me is that whoever took it didn't know much about gardening, and dug only 10 to 15cm to one side, cutting the rootball. So now Nana's tree will die too."
Wild About Waihi coordinator Andrew Jenks told the Leader that the trees - up to three years old - were pulled out with some force.
He will make replacement trees available this week but describes the thefts as "beyond infuriating, and unbelievably cheeky".
Since the Wild about Waihi partnership was initiated by Newmont Waihi Gold in 1994 to support sustainable land use practices, not only have school students and community volunteers invested countless hours in the area contributing to stream health work and planting, but the trees were part of a long-term study on carbon sequestration and the growth rate of canopy species in riparian zones, he says.
"No one has the right to take them. It's not as if natives cost that much money - and if anyone really wants some, we'd be happy to help."
Andrew can be contacted on 0274 585 286. Anyone who has information about suspicious activity at Waitete Stream overnight last Monday, or of the trees' whereabouts, can contact Waihi Police.