Police investigates the scene.

The tree stump left on the scene. (Photo/Yunnan.cn)

A 51-year-old Dalbergia, with value of more than one million yuan, was felled and stolen in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Saturday morning. Another bigger Dalbergia was seriously wounded. The police have launched an investigation.

"The botanical garden, surrounded by water, is only accessible by three bridges. The bridge has security personnel on duty day and night. It's almost impossible to transport the timber through the bridges," said a director of the Botanical Garden. The security personnel in the Botanical Garden patrolled till 2 a.m. The thieves must have used the downtime to cut down the tree and ship it out by boat. "The perpetrators should be familiar with the environment," said the director.

According to Professor Zhou Shouqing, the price of Dalbergia is high on the market, up to 3 million yuan per ton. The stolen Dalbergia with a circumference of 113 cm and a cross-sectional diameter of 24 cm should be valued at more than one million yuan. Another wounded Dalbergia tree, with a circumference of 147 cm, has a higher value. It is still unknown whether it can be saved.    

The wounded Dalbergia tree. (Photo/Yunnan.cn)