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OGDEN — Students at James Madison Elementary School recently helped plant 600 flowers outside the school only to learn that a thief saw it as an opportunity.
Blaine Jackman, a staff assistant at the school, started the annual project four years ago.
"I've had some of the kids say, 'This is my plant, look at how good it's doing,'" Jackman said. "They take great pride and ownership in having this."
Monday morning, Jackman noticed several flowers were missing. At first, he said it was easy to assume some of the kids might have picked them.
"In the past we've had a few of the teachers that have gotten a present of the flowers from kids," Jackman said. "And they told them, 'Well that's OK, I appreciate it very much, but please don't pick the flowers.'"
Early Thursday morning, Jackman noticed even more empty holes around the flower bed. That's when principal Vincent Ardizzone decided to check surveillance video from the front of the school.
"When we watched the video, it was clear," Ardizzone said, pointing out a blonde, thin woman who can be seen from the video taken Sunday loading flowers into multiple grocery bags.
Wednesday night, surveillance cameras caught her again. This time, with a large bucket and garden tools.
"Who wants to rob an elementary school?" Ardizzone said. "It's kind of absurd."
Melany Mendoza, a sixth-grader who helped plan the layout of the flower beds, was surprised to hear an adult had stolen the plants.
"I don't think that's very good," Mendoza said. "It's not like, appropriate. She shouldn't be doing that."
Ardizzone notified Ogden police, but said it's tough to identify the woman seen in the video. He's hoping media attention will at the very least scare her off or urge her to make amends.
"I think for our kids it would be fair to have her, yes, stop for sure," Ardizzone said. "But you know she could apologize to our students for the work that they have done."
