A German forest owner who wanted to check up on his fir trees was shocked to find a wasteland of bark and twigs. Police are hunting the thieves who carted off an entire 2,500 square meter forest.
Wood thieves in western Germany have sawn down a 2,500 square meter area of fir trees. The owner noticed the theft when he came to inspect it and found his forest was missing, said police in the town of Idar-Oberstein.
The thieves operated "very professionally and with a lot of equipment," police said in a statement. The forest, located in the Hunsrück hills of western Germany, was worth several thousand euros.
Police are hunting for the thieves and the forest.