Omaha gardener can't believe stolen tree was scooped out of the ground like ice cream

OMAHA — Where once stood a 7-foot redbud tree, ablaze in spring blossoms, now sits a large hole. The tree, one of 10 planted to enhance a green space between 49th and 50th streets on Happy Hollow Boulevard near Metcalfe Park in central Omaha, vanished last week. Neighborhood resident Sandra Heggen, who helped plant the trees in fall 2023, said it appears to be the work of a professional because the hole was so cleanly done.

She’s a garden designer and horticulturist. “It’s almost like they had a giant spoon and scooped it out like you would ice cream,” she said. The Nebraska Statewide Arboretum supplied the trees after Heggen submitted an application through the Dundee Garden Club.



It was a 10 free trees grant , and applications will open again June 1. The space was empty after the removal of ash trees due to the Emerald Ash Borer. John Fech of the Nebraska Extension in Douglas and Sarpy Counties said he seldom hears about tree thefts.

The only time he does is in December when people get their small spruce or fir taken for a Christmas tree. He said there’s not much you can do to protect them without going to desperate measures such as temporarily painting them. “It’s definitely kind of weird,” he said.

The University of Nebraska sprays and tags “cute, little trees” with deer repellent to stop people from chopping down firs and pines for Christmas decorations in a dorm room or apartment. It has a noxious odor. “It’s a deterrent for anyone who has the crazy idea to haul off a Christmas tree in the middle of the night,” said Michelle DeRusha, communications coordinator for the arboretum.

About a dozen people from the club and the Metcalfe-Harrison Neighborhood Association planted the trees with care and love over a two-day span, Heggen said. That community spirit has been trampled on by the theft. “They’ve been getting established,” Heggen said.

“Myself and another neighbor watered them all religiously for six to eight weeks after planting. We’ve been keeping an eye on them and looking after them.” Heggen said she was checking on the trees earlier this week and couldn’t believe it when she spotted the hole.

She said it must have been done during the night because no neighbors noticed anything amiss. She’s since removed the labels from the other trees, a mix of natives that included oaks, hickories and maples, so someone can’t dig them up and present them to perhaps another person as being straight from a nursery. She’s surrounded the trunk of the other redbud tree with small branches so if the person came back, they would know the theft has been noticed.

She had planned to reach out to the arboretum to obtain more trees, but DeRusha said Friday the tree will be replaced. Since the theft, Heggen has had some restless nights. “I’m constantly worried I’m going to wake up and find more of those trees are gone,” she said.

“It was so happy. Who knows where it’s gone.”.