A happy ending for Tauranga's Richard Fenn: most of his stolen bonsai trees have been returned.
A Tauranga retiree who lost 12 beloved bonsai trees to thieves has been reunited with his "babies".
Richard Fenn featured in Saturday's Bay of Plenty Times after half of his 24 bonsai trees were stolen from his back yard. Read the original story here.
A heartbroken Mr Fennbelieved he would never see them again but hours later, 10 of the trees were returned to him by a man who spent $2500 buying them.
"He genuinely bought them from a friend of a friend and was told they were available for sale. He felt bad about the whole thing. The moment he read the article in the paper he rang and said he would be around in 30 minutes."
The man arrived, walked around to the back of the van, opened up the doors "and there were my bonsais", Mr Fenn said.
Mr Fenn said he was so grateful to the man who returned them he tried to offer a $50 reward "but he wouldn't take it". Mr Fenn gifted the man one of the trees instead.
"It just shows the value of the Bay of Plenty Times. I was amazed at how many people responded so quickly.
"I'm absolutely thrilled to bits."
Previously, Mr Fenn told of how much care each bonsai tree needed and did not believe the trees would survive the theft. Each tree had been grown from a cutting, including one which was older than 50 years. He likened the trees as his "babies".
Police confirmed the person who returned the trees had bought them innocently and only became aware they were stolen after seeing the story.
Police were continuing to make inquiries in relation to the theft, a police spokeswoman said.
Retired builder Richard Fenn had 12 of his collection of 24 bonsai trees stolen but has since been reunited with 10 of them. Photo/John Borren
