Close to 50 years of Tak Yamaura’s livelihood vanished from his bonsai store and acreage in South Surrey, which has left both him and his family heartbroken.
$65,000 worth of trees have been stolen on six occasions in just over a month.
“He’s pretty much in shock, he’s really saddened about the whole thing. These are bonsai that he’s been raising for 50 years, they started out from seeds.”
His daughter Natalie Skye says the store was already in the process of closing down permanently, which leads to speculation thieves thought their priceless trees were there for the taking.
“We’re closing out, and that’s probably how thieves got the idea we’re closing out and so there’s inventory,” said Skye.
“They’re irreplaceable, they’re priceless, he won’t be able to pretty much in this lifetime recreate that or recreate them again. It’s been pretty devastating.”
The 71-year-old is world renowned for his bonsai trees and was supposed to have them on display for the B.C. Bonsai Society this weekend.
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