A plant thief has struck again in Falmouth, this time stealing £250 worth of banana plants in a week.

The tropical plants were stolen from the public Fox Rosehill gardens off Melville Road.

Matt Stannard, from Cormac's gardening team, said: "The gardens are there for absolutely everybody to enjoy. What we don't want is people taking plants away and selling them on. It's something that we can't afford."

This latest incident is not the first time the town's plants have been the target of robberies.

On the morning of Tuesday, May 8, a man in a flat cap was spotted filling a carrier bag with "exotic succulents" stolen from Falmouth's seafront.

The plants were largely planted by volunteers during the town's Spring Festival.

He was believed to be in his late 60s, and was described as "quite well dressed" and of average height. He was a wearing a black and white check flat cap, a short beige jacket and carrying a shoulder bag.

Packet readers took to the comments section to voice their concerns over the last plant robberies.

Gilly Zella Martin said: "If he was seen actually taking them, why was he not challenged, or the police called? 999 can be used if a crime is in action. If he was not seen actually taking them why is it assumed? It must presumably take quite some time to remove several plants?"

Fox Rosehill, the site of the latest thefts, is a legacy from the Fox family who opened up part of the garden for the public to use at the end of the Second World War.

Many varied species from Australia, New Zealand and South America have been successfully introduced to the mild Cornish climate including lemon, banana and eucalyptus trees, bamboos, agaves and a wide variety of palms.