For a local resident, the shrubs aren’t a big deal. It’s the principle of the matter.

“If anybody will steal the bushes out of the ground that have been planted, he’ll steal the drawers off of somebody,” he said.

The resident, who shied away from being named, found 11 holes in front of his personal office and warehouse building on Carolina Road earlier this week. His newly planted Old English Boxwoods had been dug out of the ground and taken away Monday night, he said.

“I don’t want them back, I just want the person caught,” he said. “I already ordered some more.”

The shrubs, which cost $38 each, had been part of an overhaul the owner did to his building, which included painting and landscaping the outside and re-carpeting and painting the inside. The bushes had only been there for about a month.

“I’d like to catch that sucker,” he said. The thief left seven of the bushes in the ground.

The man suspects that whoever took the bushes knew what type they were, and how expensive they are. He also has a hunch that they’ve been sold to an unsuspecting person who simply thought he was getting a good deal on shrubs.

“Somebody, somewhere, knows who got those bushes,” he said.

To try to catch the person, the rightful owner of the shrubbery is offering $500 cash for information leading to the arrest of the thief.

“If I can catch them, they won’t get by with it,” he said. “I’m not going to tolerate it.”

To provide information about the case of the missing bushes, call 514-7915.