World's smallest water lily stolen

January 14, 2014 04:28

A plant thief has stolen one of the few surviving examples of the world's smallest water lily, which is extinct in the wild, from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, police said today.

The tiny 'Nymphaea Thermarum' was stolen on Thursday from the Princess of Wales Conservatory, a giant glass house at the gardens in the southwest of the capital, a Scotland Yard statement said.

"Officers have been informed that the plant would have had to have been dug, or pulled up, from a shallow water lily pond," the force said.

Richard Barley, director of horticulture at Kew Gardens, said the theft was a "blow to morale" of his staff who are "dedicated to the conservation of plants".

"We take theft of our invaluable scientific collection of plants very seriously and this matter is with the Metropolitan Police," he added.

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