AUGUSTA – The latest unscheduled withdrawal at a local credit union was from the flower bed, and it was all caught on surveillance video.

A plant thief struck the Capital Area Federal Credit Union between 9:20 and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, digging up day lilies and bee balm planted a few years ago in two different flower beds around the building.

“We love to make our gardens look beautiful for the community to share in, but that doesn’t mean they’re there for the taking,” Diana Winkley, the credit union’s president and chief executive officer, said Friday after reporting the incident to police.

Police were contacted after workers were able to isolate the footage from surveillance cameras showing an SUV drive up. Police had not identified suspects as of Friday afternoon.

“The driver pulled directly into the credit union as the curb goes around. We can see a person get out of passenger side backseat. They were there for a few minutes,” she said. “They didn’t just pull them up; they dug them up. Then they drive out and stop on street in front of our other flower bed, get out and take more.”

It all happened in a few minutes.

“They knew what they were looking for,” Winkley said Friday, pointing to the holes in the dirt in the flower beds where the perennials had been.

It’s not the first plant snatching in the city. Petunias were pulled out by the roots at Lithgow Public Library at Winthrop and State streets earlier this week.

Kennebec Journal Staff Writer Betty Adams can be contacted at 621-5631 or at:

badams@centralmaine.com