A homeowner in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has reported multiple instances of a neighbor allegedly taking flowers from his front garden without permission. Kevin Guenard shared video footage showing a woman, identified as a neighbor, gathering peonies from his plants.
Guenard stated that he first noticed blooms disappearing from a peony plant near the sidewalk last week. He initially considered it a one-off incident but was dismayed to see the same woman return on Friday. According to Guenard, the woman then proceeded to pick flowers directly from the bushes near his front door.
He expressed outrage at what he described as a brazen disregard for private property. Guenard, a conservationist, has been tending to his garden for years and highlighted that such actions can damage the plants and affect their future blooms if flowers are not harvested properly.
"This person has decided my gardens are a source of free flowers," Guenard wrote on a Facebook page where he shared the video. "We noticed blooms disappearing on [the] peony plant closer to the sidewalk last week. The blooms are all gone on that one so she is coming right up to the front door to help herself."
Guenard noted that he has always been willing to share the produce and flowers from his garden with neighbors and friends, but emphasized that these instances involved taking without asking or permission. He raised concerns about the escalation of such behavior, questioning if it could lead to more significant intrusions.
"I know some would say they are just flowers, but where does it end?" he wrote. "Does she come in back to harvest the garden or apples next?"
The homeowner also linked the incident to a broader trend of increased crime and anti-social behavior in his neighborhood. He reported that car break-ins have become more frequent, adding to his concern about a perceived decline in community standards over his 28 years of residency in the area.
The online post garnered sympathy from other users, with many agreeing that taking flowers from someone's property constitutes theft and trespassing, regardless of the flowers' monetary value. Some commenters suggested that the issue was not just about the flowers but about a sense of entitlement, and others advised reporting the incidents to the police if the behavior continued. The Daily Mail has reached out to Guenard for further comment.