Local man searches for bonsai tree stolen from Burnside/Tillicum area

Have you seen this bonsai tree?

Wes Phelps had his 25-year-old bonsai tree stolen last night and he’s offering a unique reward for its safe return.

“I will gracefully accept it returned no questions asked and no anger,” Phelps wrote in a Facebook post. “I would also reward anyone who can rescue it for me with anything that they would like…shiatsu massage…karate lessons for their kids…hugs…life advice…whatever.”

Bonsai trees have a reputation for being high maintenance, and Phelps’s is no different. Among other necessities, the tree must be kept outside. In his post, he also guesses that without specific care, it could die in as little as a week.

These artistic Japanese bonsai trees can live for hundreds of years. Those that reach ancient ages occasionally fetch high prices. But for Phelps, the incentive for its return seems purely sentimental.

“My tree looked like a million bucks, but it’s not…It is priceless to me though,” he wrote in a comment.

If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of the tree, you can reach him through Facebook (link in original post below).

https://www.facebook.com/wes.phelps1/posts/10213834415641144