Backyard thief stole four bonsai trees

A five-year resident of Fairfield has had his trust in the community shaken by the theft of four precious potted bonsai trees from his yard.

Richard Hughes? hobby of 25 years has produced hundreds of bonsai trees, patiently and caringly pruned each year to create miniature perfection from seeds and cuttings of regular trees.

?I moved here about five years ago,? he said. ?I drove from New York with 75 bonsai trees and my dogs in the car. In New York, I knew to lock things up. But here, in Fairfield, everyone talks about how safe it is. And last week, a thief came into my yard and took four of my best specimens. They not only took my trees, but my confidence.

?Someone knew what he was doing, the thief took only the best.?

Hughes grows a special style of bonsai trees; root on stone. He said many varieties of trees can be grown in miniature or bonsai, and he?s experimented with several. He never buys a bonsai; he takes regular tree seeds and cuttings. He favors trees with small leaves and trains them to grow roots over a large stone. It?s a technique that requires several years.

?The seed or cutting is planted on a rock and buried in soil,? he said. ?These can be grown in the ground, but I like to use pots. As the tree grows, gradually through the years, I scrape the soil away, eventually exposing the stone and the roots. I train the roots to grow over the stone, sometimes camouflaging the less attractive parts of the stone.

?Each year, usually about this time of year, each tree is pruned. I gently lift the tree and roots up, and make choices about where to cut and what not to cut. To create a bonsai, both roots and branches need to be pruned. Not all trees will appreciate this. Some types do very well.?

Hughes estimates he has about 150 bonsai trees in pots, some as old as the 20-year old stolen trees. He?s found evergreens, crab apple, maple and elm species will tolerate bonsai growing. His stolen trees are boxwood and barberry, also very adaptable to bonsai treatments.

?One of my big concerns is I hope this person knows that to survive, these trees have to be outside, in the air,? he said. ?They won?t survive indoors. My trees could be sitting on someone?s porch or in the backyard.?

The thief would have had to make two trips, carrying each specimen under one arm to carry them away, he said.

?I?ve posted about them on Craigslist and the bonsai club page, so if someone tries to sell them, others can be alerted,? he said.

?They are valuable, but since I never intended to sell them, I?ve never really had them valued. But I know I?ve put 20 years of care into each of those missing. I know they were the best specimens of what I have,? said Hughes.

Even the stones used to grow the bonsais are special to him.

?I collected those stones more than 30 years ago in New York when I was into aquariums and intended to use the stones in aquariums,? said Hughes. ?But then I got interested in growing bonsai trees. I learned from books and taught myself. It?s been my own hobby. And I began using those stones in growing my bonsais.?

He would like to get his trees returned. He?s also filed a police report.