valleylynn said:... stealing plants is not new, it has been going on for hundreds of years. There will always be unscrupulous people.
Several years ago, in the front of the house, I had a gazania planted bed where I placed a couple of wooden stakes that my mother-in-law cut out and hand painted. She had depicted a boy and a girl holding watering cans. Within a couple of days, these stakes were stolen. The plants were still there but the stakes had sentimental worth to me. I guess temptation is really hard to resist...