Thieves steal trees, plants and fruit bushes from elementary school
Several trees
By Jake Flores
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SOQUEL, California (KSBW) — Several trees, plants and fruit bushes were taken from the garden at Main Street Elementary.
The principal says it looks like whoever is responsible knew what they were doing.
“It was all professionally dug out, it looks like, so it’s not like they were sitting in pots and they took them and left,” Ronnie Platt said, principal of the school. “They came and dug them out and wheelbarrowed them out.”
Students ranging from kindergarten to fifth-grade plant trees, fruits and vegetables as part of their curriculum. The students were in the midst of a lengthy project before the theft, which left them heartbroken.
“We’ve been working on this project for at least six months. And they dug all the holes,” Megan McElroy said, who’s the garden science teacher at the school. “It’s a huge loss for them and it just hits you right in the heart when someone takes something from a school, of all places.”
The school says two thefts happened in a span of four days.
Twelve trees, including a ten-year-old pineapple guava tree, raspberry and parsley plants and hummingbird sage, were among the twenty items stolen.
Spokesperson for the Santa Cruz County Sheriffs Department, Ashley Keehn, says there’s an ongoing investigation.
“We’re trying to figure out if it’s the same suspects, if it was two different incidents completely unrelated. That’s something our investigators are currently looking into,” Keehn said. “Depending on the amount, we’re looking at commercial burglary, grand theft, petty theft. Those are all different charges our detectives are looking at.”
In the meantime, the Garden Company Nursery in Santa Cruz donated some plants to get the rebuilding process started. Additionally, the Soquel School District says it will replace everything that was stolen. Cameras will also be installed at the school as part of a district-wide effort to add more security on their campuses.
Even though the school will have everything replaced, McElroy has a message for those responsible.
“I want you to sneak back in at night and just put them all back and leave an apology card. That would be restorative justice. Make it right,” McElroy said.
If you would like to donate to the school, checks can be made out to Friends of Main Street, labeled “Garden” and sent to the school at 3400 N. Main St., Soquel.
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