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world's most pointless crime

one of the rarest trees growing in the uk was stloen last week from a botanical garden. the southern beech was grown from seed collected in its native tasmania in 2000 by botanists from the kew gardens base in west sussex.

it was discovered that the 2ft-high sapling had been dug up last week in a routine inspection at wakehurst place.

attempts to plant or sell the tree are likely to fail because it has suffered root damage, needs special care, and is easily recognisable, kew gardens said.

experts say the thief is unlikely to dare to show it in a public place.

the thieves took the tree but damaged the roots when they pulled it up, leaving only the two cages in place that protected it from wild animals.

wakehurst place, which holds the national nothofagus collection and is the site of kew's £80m seed bank, said it was the only recorded example of a nothofagus gunnii in the country.

"this was the only one that survived here from those brought back five years ago," a spokesman said.

the tree was being monitored for the interaction between the soil and its roots, because it is so hard to grow in england.

sussex police said it was "an unusual theft" and that if the crime had been reported, officers would be investigating as normal.

i mean really, who steals a tree?

bbc news