Ruby ti robber pilfers couple’s garden

HOLUALOA — Pam and Preston DuPont, who share a green thumb, woke up Saturday morning expecting to see red.

When they didn’t, the couple become understandably perturbed.

A little before midnight the evening prior, a neighbor’s security camera picked up the image of what appeared to be a sports utility vehicle looping slowly through their cul de sac in Holualoa. About 30 minutes later, the vehicle returned, this time with its hatch open.

“In other words, ready to load,” Pam said.

The DuPonts headed out to the garden lining their driveway the next morning to find 20 recently planted ruby ti plants gone, meticulously dug up and removed from their property.

“We think (the driver) dropped someone off, (that person) dug them out, then (the driver) came back and picked him up,” Preston said.

The footage wasn’t clear enough to make out the license plates of the vehicle caught on camera.

Pam said the theft of the plants, valued at about $150 total, was something she would have never expected. Beyond the lost property, the DuPonts said redoing the wood chips and soil on the plot will cost about $100.

Preston, 76, spent two days planting the ti a few months ago after Pam planned out and measured their locations. The couple filed a police report about the incident Sunday morning.

“We retired here 17 years ago, so we have just about seen it all, except this,” Pam said. “Someone digging up our plants, this is new.”

The DuPonts believe their property was specifically targeted, as it is tucked into the Holualoa mountainside and requires several twists and turns to reach the street on which it’s located.

There was no attempt to remove any other plants nor to break into the home itself. None of their neighbors, in an area Pam said is populated mostly by retirees, reported any disturbances to their properties.

Preston added the way the ruby ti plants were excavated and the fact that one poorly performing plant and one stunted plant were left behind indicates the thief, or thieves, have extensive knowledge of horticulture.

Pam said considering the circumstances of the theft, she believes a member, or members, of a landscaping crew that’s done work in the area is the likely culprit. If that is the case, the ruby ti plants may have already been replanted elsewhere.

“I don’t want my plants back,” Pam said. “I want people to know these guys stole them, and they shouldn’t be doing business with people who steal stuff.”