CORAL GABLES, FLA. (WSVN) - A thief was caught on surveillance video stealing thousands of dollars worth of orchids from a Coral Gables neighborhood.
The theft happened in the Country Club Prado area early Wednesday morning.
Ray Corral and Alina Meledina said they started planting the orchids when they first moved to the neighborhood.
“She or he puts the orchids in his car,” Meledina said while watching the video. “See my orchids there? Beautiful white, purple, they are all going in the car. We were planting orchids not only for us, but also for the people around us. I was so passionate about it. I was doing everything, spraying.”
When the pandemic hit, closing parks and public spaces, Corral said the beautification project became a community effort.
“It was such a hit, and everybody loved them that we decided to go ahead and start this whole orchid movement, and we actually donated a lot of orchids to neighbors of ours, and it became a big hit,” Corral said.
Corral and Meledina put in more money and got more orchids to plant on trees along the neighborhood.
“Since all the parks were closed in the city, a lot of people outside the City of Coral Gables were using our streets to run and exercise, and everything was really beautiful,” Corral said.
He said the orchids brought the neighborhood together in a difficult time, and despite the $2,000 cost to replace the flowers, residents are more upset because they were put up for everyone to enjoy.
“We did it for you,” Meledina said. “Why would you take it away from our neighborhood?”
”He doesn’t understand what the orchids meant to the community and what it meant to the actual block that we had here,” Corral said.
Residents said they are going to replant the stolen flowers, but to prevent the theft from occurring again, they are going to plant the flowers higher.
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