RFID can help prevent theft from gardens and yards

RFID in trees and plants can make it harder to steal them

You have heard of purse-snatchers, bank robbers, and jewelry-store bandits, but did you know that in the United States there are also numerous gangs of plant and tree thieves?

In cities across the country, people steal flowers, bushes and even trees from public gardens and from the lawns and yards of individual families. They all have a resale value on the black (or gray) market. For healthy palm trees, for example, that resale value can go into the thousands of dollars!

One company in the state of Florida is using RFID to make it to harder steal plants and trees, and easier to return them to their rightful owner if they are in fact stolen. Working with local growers and farmers, the company implants a very small RFID chip into high-value flora at the request of the people who buy them. The owner’s contact details are entered into a database.

If police or security officers come across trees or plants they suspect have been stolen, they can use a handheld RFID scanner to identify whether any of the items belong to someone else.

RFID: Now our partner in fighting crime.