Dirty thieves dig up Lockport woman’s plants

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This phone was found in Joliet. -PHOTO BY ROSE PANIERI

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Updated: June 24, 2011 2:11PM

The fall of our society has been gradual, so slow and steady that you may not have been fully aware of the increasing desperation. Odds are, there are at least a couple of foreclosed homes in your neighborhood and you know someone who has lost a job and is living dangerously close to the edge. Maybe that person is you.

We can see the economy is a ticking time bomb, but there is no corroboration from the powers-that-be. The propaganda pundits tell us the recession is over and are jobs galore for anyone willing to work — never mind that the work is part-time, temporary or pays minimum wage. The message is clear — if you’re in trouble, it’s your own fault — tough toenails.

The great hosta heist

This growing sense of desperation is driving people to do things they don’t really want to do. Some of us find a second job or sell our class ring to a gold broker. Others flirt with the dark side, filching copper pipes from abandoned houses and siphoning gas from their neighbor’s Hummer.

On May 4, I got an e-mail from Justine Burza of Lockport that drove home what some folks are willing to do to survive.

“On Tuesday, May 3, while walking out to pick up my Herald-News newspaper at 6 a.m., I realized that someone had methodically stolen most of the hosta plants that I have in the front of my house,” she wrote. “I say methodically, because the plants were removed and the dirt was carefully rearranged so that not a hole was visible. As I walked around my property, it became apparent to me that over a thousand hosta plants were stolen.”

Imagine the sheer chutzpah of a thief who prowls around your yard in the middle of night, painstakingly uprooting your plants and carefully filling in each hole after the fact. If that’s not enough to curl your hair, you’re a stalwart soul indeed.

Burza knows that her hours of laboring in the yard and money paid for perennials were all for naught. She understands her hostas weren’t lost but stolen. No matter how thick I attempt to lay on the guilt, the thief is unlikely to sneak back during the night and replant Burza’s hostas.

“I have not been able to reconcile this invasion to my property except to warn others, and to recognize that desperate people will do desperate things in order to survive,” she said. “I just hope the money raised from the selling of these plants is put to good use.”

Heirloom ring mystery

Victoria Foxworth, also of Lockport, contacted me last Monday about a treasured heirloom that disappeared on Sept. 29, 2009. The century-old platinum engagement ring was lost somewhere in Lockport, and Foxworth is hoping against hope that someone with a good, honest heart found it.

“The ring is an heirloom from my husband, was custom-made over 100 years ago. He and his family were born and raised in New Orleans, his family and the ring survived Katrina, which I thought made it pretty special,” she said. “I believe it was his great-grandmother’s wedding ring. I think it signifies the importance of family and individuality in a marriage.”

The ring is set with a round European cut 1.3-carat diamond with smaller diamonds on either side. If you have information, call me and I’ll put you in touch with Foxworth.

Yet another phone found

An anonymous good Samaritan turned in a Samsung touchscreen phone a couple of weeks ago. It appears that the phone may have been run over by a car, as the back is missing. There may also have been a charm of some sort on the phone.

If you’ve lost — or found — something, call 815-439-5328 or e-mail rpanieri@stmedianetwork.com.