Springtime blossoms are attractive, even to criminals.
A home surveillance camera caught two unknown men cutting branches off a dogwood tree on the front lawn of a Modesto home.
The residents of the home were inside their house on Saturday morning when the two men stopped on the street in a white van. They didn't catch the act but a neighbor's security camera did, according to the Modesto Bee.
The whole incident only took about three minutes and the men took off with with about 20 branches.
The Modesto police posted the video on their Facebook page and said there have been three recent reports of similar vandalism in the city.
So what is a dogwood tree?
The flowering dogwood is a valuable ornamental tree species, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
It's commonly used in landscapes and street plantings or as garden trees. The dogwood produces beautiful blossoms and attractive fall foliage, but only for a short period of time.
Because of the showy blossoms, the branches are often used by florists for arrangements, especially for big events such as weddings or at large venues such as hotel lobbies.
Is dogwood in high demand in the greater Sacramento region?
Dogwood branches are rarely used exclusively in arrangements but rather as part of a display with other flowers and greenery.
Twiggs Floral Design shop in Sacramento receives dogwood branches from a local wholesalers but doesn't see much demand for the product.
"We don't have people that actually request dogwood," said Alma Preciado, the shop manager.
Twiggs uses a variety of branches from different trees for their arrangements and sometimes features dogwood branches, but the business is mainly known for using curly willows, Preciado said.
Dogwood branches typically sell for about $15 a bunch, according to Preciado.
ABC10 spoke to several other local floral shops including Amour Florist & Bridal and Kiyo's Floral Design, both who said they don't see dogwood branches as a popular request. In fact, Kiyo's doesn't even include dogwood branches in their wholesale orders.
So why are dogwood branches being targeted for crime?
The dogwood only blooms for a very short window of time and could be a target during the spring season for people who are looking to create their own floral arrangements or in an attempt to sell to florists and make some extra cash.
Vandals targeting dogwood could simply be looking for any blooming branches, not specifically the dogwood, whether as a solo product or as part of an arrangement.
They could also be planning an event themselves and looking to save some money.
Dogwood vandalism isn't something new but neither is plant vandalism in general.
Alicia Relles of Relles Florist in Sacramento, said she knows of a dogwood case dating back 20 years and that many of her customers have shared experiences where their fruits, plants and branches are stolen from their properties.
Relles explained that while dogwood branch bunches typically range from about $15 to $20, the costs add up because they're not products ordered alone, but in arrangements. They're also part of bigger displays and prices could shoot up during off-season.
One arrangement featuring dogwood branches could run at about $75 to $80. Events usually require multiple arrangements.
"It could cost thousands of dollars per event," Relles said.
It appears dogwood isn't particularly high in demand, but rather a target for it's overall floral beauty which can be used for personal gain.
Keep in mind, the damage to the dogwood tree can be devastating.
"You can kill a tree by taking the branch off of it," Relles said.
It can take three or four years for a dogwood tree to grow a branch and it could also be a sad loss of beauty to a home."My family has a big dogwood tree in the backyard," Relles said.She said she told her family about the Modesto incident upon hearing about the vandalism in Modesto.
