Security footage shows theft of rare Japanese trees from Canadian restaurant

CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Security camera footage aided in the arrest of a man who stole a pair of rare Japanese maple trees from in front of a restaurant in Canada.

The Royale Brasserie, a French restaurant in Calgary, shared video on Tuesday of a man who grabbed the two trees from in front of the building while walking his dog.

"We are putting the word out to all you plant parents on 17th and surrounding areas that our beautiful [Japanese Maples] were stolen from us!" they wrote.

Director of operations for the restaurant Devin Morrison told the CBC he found humor in the incident at first, even joking that they would not prosecute the dog, but still sought the return of the rare to find plants.

"I started laughing out loud at first. I've never seen anything like this. To see that little dog being dragged around was priceless," he said. "We had a very cool florist we worked with who drove to B.C. to pick those trees up. They're very difficult to find and very valuable."

The post spread on social media in the following days and Global News reported police found and arrested the man on Thursday after receiving tips from the public.

Operations manager Karen Kho said the trees were valued at about $700 each and were not returned "in the same form."

Despite the damage, management remained happy to have the rare trees back as Morrison posed for a photo with police and thanked the community for their help.

"WOW! What a turnaround! HUGE thank you to everyone who helped us get our [Japanese Maple] babies back!" He wrote. "We are overwhelmed with the amount of support we received!"