THESE images capture the moment a green-fingered thief casually strolled into an East Riding garden to steal flowers.
The man, believed to be in his mid-30s, carefully put the plants into a plastic bag before making off from the address in Lowfield Road, Anlaby.
It was not the first time flowers had been stolen from the property.
More than 40 plants have been taken from the front garden in little over a month.
The homeowner, who wishes to remain anonymous, believes a flower thief has struck on at least eight occasions, taking a small number of flowers on each visit.
PC Andy White, of the Kirk Ella, Willerby and Anlaby Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "I have never heard of anything like it.
"We've investigated the theft of garden furniture and the odd garden ornament going missing, but this is the first time I've heard of plants taken like this.
"This man appears to be coming along and carefully selecting plants to take, which are then carefully being removed from the flower bed.
"He seems to be taking one from one flower bed and then moving along to another flower bed and taking another, as though his actions will go unnoticed.
"One or two may go undiscovered, but here we are talking a total of more than 40 in just over a month."
The homeowner also had plants stolen last year, but did not report it to the police.
This year, she decided enough was enough and installed CCTV cameras in her garden to catch the culprit. The footage has now been handed to the police.
PC White said: "We think it must be someone from the area who is carefully taking the plants and putting them in a bag before probably planting them in his own garden.
"This lady is a keen gardener and it must be distressing to wake up on eight occasions in a month to find plants she has planted have been stolen."
In the CCTV images, the man is pictured kneeling down by one of the flower beds and putting flowers into an orange Sainsbury's bag on July 26, at 3.49pm.
Each plant is believed to be worth about £1.50.
PC White said: "Looking at the images, I'd guess the man is in his mid-30s. He should be easily recognised with tattoos along his arms.
"The CCTV footage has provided us with some decent images and I would ask anyone who recognises the man, or the man himself, to get in touch and come forward."
If you have any information, call the police on 01482 307213.
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