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Palm tree plucked from mobile home property in Nanaimo

Property owner without palm tree after alleged theft
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A mobile home park owner is without a palm tree after it was plucked from his property.

Chris Falardeau, the owner of Chase River Mobile Home Park, says one of four freshly planted palm trees was stolen from the front of the property on 1074 Old Victoria Rd. sometime Wednesday overnight.

“It was a shock,” he said. “Who could do that?”

Falardeau says while the theft is small in scale, it’s frustrating because he has invested roughly $50,000 into sprucing up the park over the last year by installing new fences, fresh gravel and upgrading the property’s drainage system.

“You’re trying to make improvements and someone is trying to destroy it,” he said.

Falardeau, who has owned the park since 2005, just planted the four palm trees worth about $75 each on Wednesday morning. Now, less than 24 hours later, one of them is gone.

“It’s kind of silly,” he said.

Falardeau says he is about to install a security system and has reported the incident to Nanaimo RCMP, but realizes there are bigger issues on their hands.

“I don’t expect them to come out,” he said.