Ah, gnomes, at best they’re a sentimental piece of garden furniture and at worst they can be the fuel for various childhood nightmares. While they might appear to be cuddly little garden folk who might occasionally host bush doofs for the surrounding area, they can be a lot more sinister.
When Hawke’s Bay police went to a Flaxmere property on Tuesday to assist a power company cutting off the house which had amassed a pretty fkd $10,000 bill, they found something much more interesting. There were around 300 ornaments scattered throughout the garden, all of them stolen and believed to be linked to meth.
Sergeant Cam Donnison said there was a growing problem in Hawke’s Bay of people stealing garden decorations and then flogging or trading them to get money for meth. “It was obvious straight away they were stolen. We were aware of the issue. It seems to be the fashion at the moment. They are taking these items to hock off for methamphetamine – it’s all meth driven,” he said.
Donnison also said that it isn’t uncommon for people to get upwards of NZ $300 for the ornaments, which makes me question why I’m not the one out there stealing people’s gnomes.
No arrests have been made but police are conducting an investigation. In the meantime, they’ll be handing back all the gnomes that were taken, so hopefully, all the old darlings who lost their prized ornaments will be reunited very soon.
Source: Stuff.co.nz
Image: Stuff.co.nz
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