CHELSEA — They want to catch this thief green-handed.
A leafy larcenist has been stealing shrubs from a garden inside Hudson River Park for nearly a year, the NYPD said.
A park employee told police that an unknown person stole inkberry shrubs from the park’s Habitat Garden, at West 26th Street just past the West Side Highway, between March 3 and March 8 of this year.
The shrub thefts are a “recurring problem” that began last May, police said.
The employee told police the shrubs were worth around $750, though it wasn’t clear whether that sum included all of the stolen shrubs, or only the ones swiped this month.
The park doesn’t have surveillance footage of the garden, the NYPD said.
A spokesman for the Hudson River Park Trust said on Wednesday that the organization is “working closely with the NYPD’s 10th Precinct to address the issue.”
“We are distressed that plants have been stolen from the Chelsea section of Hudson River Park,” he added.
He didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the value of the stolen shrubs.
