ST ALBANS: A thief targeting a community rock garden has struck again, and the items taken suggest the thefts are not entirely opportunistic.

Residents living in Gonnerston, St Albans, have created a small rockery in Branch Road in an attempt to improve the street scene but it has been the victim of a spate of thefts all indicating that the thief knows more than a thing or two about gardening.

The most recent theft of a healthy heather and an aubretia, as well as previous thefts of spring irises and a Hardy Alpine Milla, have led Albert Bedwell, a key figure behind the project, to suggest that the person taking them is knowledgable about plants and is using the stolen items for their own garden.

He said: “I can’t believe it and I do find it very upsetting to know that someone is taking these, when it’s been put there for everyone to enjoy.”