Happy ending for stolen Te Puna park palm

Te Puna Quarry Park volunteers Jennifer Day (left) and Lynn Elshaw were disheartened to find a big hole where a ponytail palm once stood. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Almost 20 people have come forward to donate a ponytail palm to replace the plant stolen from Te Puna Quarry Park.

Last week volunteers were left distraught after a 12-year-old ponytail palm went missing from the garden.

But the big hole left behind would soon be filled with a generously donated ponytail palm - to be installed after Christmas.

Te Puna Quarry Park Society secretary Dulcie Artus said around 20 people had been in touch in the week since the plant was stolen.

"A lot of people had ponytail palms they were happy to donate - and all shapes and ages and in different places. We had calls from as far as Rotorua and Auckland," she said.

The volunteers, who spend their free time and energy taking care of the park, were over the moon with the community response.

"I think it's fantastic - it shows something good can come out of something bad," Ms Artus said.

The donated ponytail palm would be delivered and planted after the New Year, she said.

Everyone had been so kind with offers, Ms Artus said she and the volunteers thought it might be nice to create a little grove of ponytail palms out of the donated palms.

Next year volunteers would source a car and trailer to collect the donated palms and plant them in an empty area in the park.

Ms Artus said she had heard nothing on the theft of the original palm and volunteers had noticed the watering system for the rose garden had also gone missing.

"The day after we noticed the palm was gone the big hoses and fittings for watering the rose garden were taken as well."