Four ferrel young men have been arrested and charged in connection with Bell Block’s kidnapped Christmas tree case. The 3.5 metre tree was chopped down and stolen from Santa’s Choice Christmas Tress at Cedar Lodge Nurseries on Egmont Rd in Bell Block on Sunday night the 8th December 2013. A few hours later security cameras in Waitara recorded footage of the tree cowering on the back of a white Ford Courier ute driving around a roundabout in the town. The stolen tree was later found dumped on the same roundabout. Yesterday, Thursday 12th December Waitara Constable Trenton Hoeta said four ferrel young men had been arrested in relation to the theft and he was not looking for anyone else. The four ferrel young men will appear in New Plymouth District Court on Wednesday 18th December 2013. Mr Hoeta said he had also located the ute. ”However it has changed colour as a result of featuring in the Press,” he said. The silver lining to the crime was Cedar Lodge Nurseries donated the stolen tree to Waitara. It is to be decorated and set up outside the post office in time for tomorrow’s, Saturday 14th December 2013 Christmas Parade. Before being chopped down the tree had been bound for New Plymouth Christmas in the Bowl 2014 event.
