Neighbour stole our firewood! (Aka the tree pun thread)

Well - update

Thought I'd give them the weekend to move it back so went to the block today (it wasn't there Friday) ... lo and behold ... the big unweildy and difficult to cut up base rings were back but nothing else ... so they obviously got my note and took heed-ish.

Decided to knock on the neighbours door and ask them where they got their wood from - ie - is it mine or can you look me in the eye and name where you got it from.

Driving past the neighbours - none of "my" firewood against the fence 100m up their side boundry with all their other wood, like it was last week (and I photographed it there from outside their fence) so drove up the driveway thinking the buggers had hidden it in the shed. Well, they hadn't hidden in the shed but rather behind the house out of sight from the road. Hmmm, strange it wasn't stacked with all their other wood - not.

So knocked on the door and wife answers - hubby not home - I asked for my firewood back. She pleads innocent as to where the wood came from - but didn't deny it was mine and asked for some time for it to be returned - so I gave her my name, number and told her my suspicions as to why I believe it is my wood, that if it wasn't mine then it was very odd the large pieces have returned after me leaving the note, that I had photographs of the wood on their property, that I wasn't 100% sure but prepared to have the wood tested if hubby denies it - and that if it is my wood and not back by end of weekend then I'll be reporting tresspass and theft to the police.

Bet she's on the phone to him right now giving him an earful ... although I do suspect not all my wood is there as he apparently "collects" it with a mate so half might have disappeared.

See what the weekend brings.
 
Great to hear lizzie.
Even if you don't get it all back, you did something !!
That always is good, otherwise, if you are like me, I would be steaming about it for a long time.
 
You go girl!!! I'll bet (like Kathryn says) she is giving him a good earful, and he deserves it. It is nothing short of stealing. Maybe she doesn't know where it came from, but maybe she does and is just playing dumb.

If they don't bring it all back, you should tell them you will accept some of theirs to replace what may be missing, or you will take it further.

People like this need a kick up the backside to make them see sense. I wonder how they would feel if the roles were reversed.
 
Lizzie

We pulled up floor boards in our IP and they were stored in the back lean too. The neighbour pulled off two doors to the back section and took the doors and the floorboards.
We did not have proof. But the lady across the road said he often wanders up peoples driveways and into people's yards and she was happy to tell that to Police. So she didn't actually witness the act. We don't know if he stole it in one hit or a few lengths a night. Some of these boards were 3-4m long
The next time I went to the IP I saw the gates to the neighbours house were open so I drove in a meter or so - you see I was just turning the car around and there was no room on the road. And what did I see - the pile of our floor boards and the old doors. I called Police and told them where the stolen stuff was and let them deal with getting it back.

The police questioned him 30 mins later, he was taken away in cuffs and charged. His girlfriend at the time also admitted he stole them. The police woulkd normally take the stolen goods back with them but instead they just picked then up, walked them a few doors down and returned them to us.

I hope you get your wood back.
 
DaveMSydney said:
I bet your neighbour has a knot in her stomach after the chat.
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haha - I know I was all knotted up. Hate confrontation but she was polite - and I was polite.

Funny how people don't seem to think taking something that doesn't belong to them is stealing ... I made her very aware that I was prepared to go to the police, and that I had photographic evidence (hmmm - she may have thought it was photos of them stealing it, and I wasn't about to dissude her)
 
Good on you Lizzie, hard for you to have to do but good on you for sticking up for your rights and for exposing a dirty thief.

Good on you too CHAOS.;)
 
lizzie said:
haha - I know I was all knotted up. Hate confrontation but she was polite - and I was polite.

Funny how people don't seem to think taking something that doesn't belong to them is stealing ... I made her very aware that I was prepared to go to the police, and that I had photographic evidence (hmmm - she may have thought it was photos of them stealing it, and I wasn't about to dissude her)
Click to expand...

I love the mention of photograghic evidence, that has stitched it up, smart move.
Now can we celebrate when this is finally over with a BBQ, we wont need too much of your wood:p.
 
murph14 said:
The puns are dying down slowly at least.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be too sure. If we stick at it, who knows what may sprout.

For sure, the low hanging fruit has been plucked, but there is always opportunity for growth.

I'd even go out on a limb and say we've but scratched the surface on this one.

Don't chop it off Mods.
 
I must say that I saw this coming, you poor saps. Let's not all get sycamore shady puns like rootless wanderers though. You can all pine later, but I'm board and rather than dream of some palm laden beech, I thought I'd get to the root of this thread with some poplar fronds. Oh, and I'm not even trunk yet, so don't go out on a limb and call the copse. OaK? ;)
 
lizzie said:
Well - update

Thought I'd give them the weekend to move it back so went to the block today (it wasn't there Friday) ... lo and behold ... the big unweildy and difficult to cut up base rings were back but nothing else ... so they obviously got my note and took heed-ish.

Decided to knock on the neighbours door and ask them where they got their wood from - ie - is it mine or can you look me in the eye and name where you got it from.

Driving past the neighbours - none of "my" firewood against the fence 100m up their side boundry with all their other wood, like it was last week (and I photographed it there from outside their fence) so drove up the driveway thinking the buggers had hidden it in the shed. Well, they hadn't hidden in the shed but rather behind the house out of sight from the road. Hmmm, strange it wasn't stacked with all their other wood - not.

So knocked on the door and wife answers - hubby not home - I asked for my firewood back. She pleads innocent as to where the wood came from - but didn't deny it was mine and asked for some time for it to be returned - so I gave her my name, number and told her my suspicions as to why I believe it is my wood, that if it wasn't mine then it was very odd the large pieces have returned after me leaving the note, that I had photographs of the wood on their property, that I wasn't 100% sure but prepared to have the wood tested if hubby denies it - and that if it is my wood and not back by end of weekend then I'll be reporting tresspass and theft to the police.

Bet she's on the phone to him right now giving him an earful ... although I do suspect not all my wood is there as he apparently "collects" it with a mate so half might have disappeared.

See what the weekend brings.
Click to expand...

It sounds like an absolute debarkle

I know you pine for the return of your wood, however the hubby may deny the theft and tell you that your barking up the wrong tree, he's not a shady character. He may further explain it wasn't him that stole your firewood but probably some other local sap, the local town trunk just having some fun, or just some board kids who took a lichen to your wood. Unless you can prove who stole it, it's a fruitless exercise

You may need to branch out your investigations and leaf no wood upturned to get to the root of the issue. Sometimes when you only have one suspect you can't cedar forest for the trees, however if you have a deep rooted belief that it's the neighbours , then test the wood using state of the art chemistree - what will they be charged with high treesin?

I'm going out on a limb here, but it might be a grass roots movement that stole your wood?

I't be a re-leaf when it's all over, but sometime in the fushsia you'll look back on all of this and have a laugh - I'm knot joking ;)
 
By gum, this is getting a bit dire. But we can't just rest on our camphor laurels. Wattle we come up with next?
 
wylie said:
You go girl!!! I'll bet (like Kathryn says) she is giving him a good earful, and he deserves it. It is nothing short of stealing. Maybe she doesn't know where it came from, but maybe she does and is just playing dumb.

If they don't bring it all back, you should tell them you will accept some of theirs to replace what may be missing, or you will take it further.

People like this need a kick up the backside to make them see sense. I wonder how they would feel if the roles were reversed.
Click to expand...

Agree. Well done. Stealing is stealing.

Peter
 
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