![\"Thames-Coromandel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/thames-coromandel-district-council-mayor-peter-revell-C6T2VWSFMND25OXFZPKTILK6H4.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThieves repeatedly uprooting trees and shrubbery across Thames-Coromandel is costing ratepayers thousands of dollars in clean-up bills.<\/p>\n
By Jordan Smith of Local Democracy Reporting<\/p>\n
Mayor Peter Revell has slammed the perpetrators, saying plant thefts from a cemetery were \u201cparticularly low\u201d and there was also a case where donated replacement trees were stolen too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a victimless crime \u2013 it costs the community, it costs ratepayers, and it\u2019s just disrespectful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two k\u014dwhai trees were recently stolen from Opito Bay, with no guarantee on replacements due to budget constraints, Revell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s an example where we\u2019re having to spend unnecessarily. Even if we don\u2019t plant new shrubs, there\u2019s re-mediation work that needs to happen and that\u2019s the frustration.<\/p>\n
\u201cApart from that, I think it\u2019s just destroying something beautiful,\u201d Revell told Local Democracy Reporting.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome kind person donated replacement trees, then thieves came and took those as well. It leaves a really sour taste in the mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Thames-Coromandel District Council Mayor Peter Revell. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n
Titoki, ornamental pears and native grasses had also been dug up from the Omahu cemetery, leaving Thames-Coromandel District Council facing a replacement bill and a mess to clean up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think most people would agree that stealing from a cemetery is a particularly low thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council believes more than one person is behind the thefts, given the number of plants involved and the fact there\u2019s more than a hundred kilometres between the locations.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur green spaces are for everyone to enjoy, so when people steal from them, they\u2019re stealing from the whole community,\u201d Revell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like it\u2019s an epidemic… we just don\u2019t want it to escalate because it would be something that would be really noticeable, and obviously we don\u2019t want that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The stealing spree comes as the district braces for a summer deluge of tourists, which swells the population of small towns over the warmer months.<\/p>\n
The council will notify police of every instance of tree theft, and said all council staff and contractors working with plants will have identification and be in marked cars.<\/p>\n
Revell said any suspicious activity should be reported to the police immediately.<\/p>\n
The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including why Auckland Transport might owe you money, and how a cyber attack shut down hundreds of supermarket fridges. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n
\u201cMy message to the public is please be alert and if you see that sort of behaviour going on, please give the police a call and let them know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thieves repeatedly uprooting trees and shrubbery across Thames-Coromandel is costing ratepayers thousands of dollars in clean-up bills. By…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[67,273,9001,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-629207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-environment","tag-hamilton-waikato","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}