The Christchurch Botanic Gardens have fallen victim to an indoor plant craze sweeping across New Zealand.
A sought-after tropical plant, a rare variegated monstera, was stolen in broad daylight.
Both police and the council are looking into the scene of the crime, and there is a witness.
"There has been a witness who actually saw a person walk out of here with a plant in their bag," Christchurch Botanic Gardens director Wolfgang Bopp says.
Houseplants are becoming increasingly popular, with punters paying thousands for them online.
The thief climbed a giant glass wall at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens to steal the single plant.
"It might have been two people, leg up, over the glass barrier, and the plant was right at the back there," Bopp says.
The rare variegated monstera could do well on the black market, worth up to $5000 for the entire plant, or sold in six or seven separate cuttings.
"You could get a cutting maybe off it for $1000," Bopp says.
Monstera plants are hard to come by in New Zealand due to the country's strict biosecurity laws.
Plant enthusiasts are guessing the thief won't get peace from their pilfered plant.
Police confirmed to Newshub on Friday that all lines of enquiry are exhausted.
There are now cameras protecting the plants at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.
