While touring Torrance in November for a newsletter on the South Bay suburb, I noticed an alien-like plant on the corner of an otherwise picturesque street.
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The blue agave, of tequila harvesting fame, hardly resembled its natural form: a sprawling green plant with jutting spearlike 3- to 5-foot long leaves.
It instead formed a pincushion: a robust center with a couple of stray leaves sticking out.
Someone had hacked up the mature plant, leaving only a few of its roughly 30 leaves.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Home owner Richard Moore said his house was one of several in the neighborhood hit multiple times over the last few years by thieves.
Neither Moore nor his fellow residents understood why.
That observation and conversation led to my latest feature on agave hackings in east Torrance.
Let’s jump into the story and see if we can find out what’s going on.
The acts were caught on tape, but not the perp(s)
Grainy surveillance footage shows white vans pulling up to agaves during late-night and early-morning hours, beginning in 2022.
The thief or thieves parked on the street at such an angle to obscure their identities.
They then chopped off the waxy, serrated leaves, leaving only a few. The plants eventually recovered and grew back those missing leaves over a couple of years, only for the hacking process to be repeated.
“Why on Earth would anybody steal these leaves?” Torrance homeowner Steven Maier asked.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Torrance’s pilferings are unusual
Agave theft happens with some frequency.
Full plants were nabbed outside homes throughout Crestview, an upscale Beverly Hills-adjacent community, in 2022. Yards from San Diego to Arizona and even the famed Huntington botanical gardens in San Marino have all been victimized.
In the case of Crestview, the thefts were believed to be motivated by the harvesting of the piña — the plant’s hearty, pineapple-like center that can weigh 100 or more pounds and is used for tequila and mezcal. The other agave and succulent thefts were linked to suspected resales.
What makes Torrance unique is none of the plants was outright stolen, though they were left “nearly unrecognizable,” according to resident Gayle Moore, wife of Richard.
Moore’s 7-foot-tall blue agave was slashed in 2022 and then again around 4 a.m. on Nov. 9.
“Last time, they cut closer to the trunk, and I wasn’t sure if the leaves would grow back,” Moore said. “This time, the guy left 4 to 5 inches from the trunk.”
The leaves do have some value
Staff members at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont don’t believe the leaves are of any use in alcohol production. They believe the cutting may be the work of a conscientious gardener, trimming away leaves that are blocking sidewalk access.
The large, broad leaves — or pencas — of blue agaves, century plants and similar species have value, according to UC Davis professor Samuel Sandoval Solis, a water resource specialist.
Solis said the leaves are generally utilized in cooking, clothing and animal feed, the latter particularly for goats.
He suspects, however, that the leaves from this moderately wealthy suburb are being harvested for use in cooking barbacoa, a traditional Mexican dish of slow-cooked, chile-infused goat, beef or lamb, generally.
“What I’m thinking is that you have people here who love barbacoa or at least want to sell [the leaves] to those making it,” Solis said.
Solis said the good news for the plant owners is that leaves generally grow back and that the cutting performed by the unknown individuals isn’t too far off from what actual pruning looks like.
“For people unfamiliar with these plants, it might look like mischief,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s a bad thing, and it actually shows the many things agave can be used for.”
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