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A bizarre crime has been committed in Kent that's leaving police scratching their heads. Virtually the entire population of the very rare Meadow Clary flower has been stolen from the Ranscombe Farm Reserve, which is managed by the Plantlife charity.
The endangered Salvia Pratensis plants only occur in 21 places in the UK, and somehow thieves have taken nearly every last one of them growing on the 560-acre Ranscombe Farm Reserve.
They were already on red alert -- being endangered and all -- but now the need to preserve those that are left is even greater.
"The loss of so many Meadow Clary plants from the small population at the reserve is devastating for the conservation of the species here," says Victoria Chester, chief executive of Plantlife.
"It is particularly distressing because Meadow Clary plants have been recorded at this site for more than 200 years, with the first-ever UK botanical record for Meadow Clary being on this same field edge in 1792."
The already-busy police have been called in and are investigating the case, but, as you might imagine, it's rather hard to fingerprint a field.
Photo: Simon Williams, Plantlife
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