Theft of Moss

 

Here's a picture of our antique armillary sundial with its beautiful mossy surface.

Here's another and more recent photograph depicting missing moss.

Just how awful does that look? At first we thought it had been stolen by birds for nest building (which would have been tricky to prove!) but whilst being interviewed, a certain Under Gardener coughed under interrogation! Was it theft or was it criminal damage? There were excuses - of course but none that could possibly cut any ice or stand up in court. "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." Everyone KNOWS that any kind of antique garden statuary is always admired for the lichens and mosses that grow on them or, so we thought! We HATE the bleached appearance of modern sculptures and take time and trouble to positively encourage mosses and lichens to grow as quickly as possible. Painting on the well known recipe of yogurt, cow manure and sour milk aids their growth and is therefore much practised.

As a guilty plea has been recorded, the defendant has been bound over to keep the peace under section 1 (7) of the Justices of the Peace Act 1968. Our Under Gardener has had the errors of his ways pointed out - hopefully ensuring that there will be no future misdemeanours and certainly no further incidents involving illegal moss removal!!