Home / Crime and Justice / Thieves Plunder National Parks: Artifacts, Cacti, and Redwoods Stolen Across the U.S.
Thieves Plunder National Parks: Artifacts, Cacti, and Redwoods Stolen Across the U.S.
9 Oct
Summary
- Visitors steal artifacts, cacti, and redwood burls from national parks
- Petrified Forest National Park has a legend of a curse on stolen wood
- Saguaro cacti worth $100/foot stolen from Saguaro National Park
In the years leading up to October 2025, U.S. national parks have faced a troubling trend of theft and vandalism by visitors. Across the country, rangers have encountered tourists stealing everything from memorial plaques and chunks of ancient redwoods to desert cacti, often leaving lasting damage to cultural and natural resources.
Some of the boldest thefts have occurred in parks like Canyonlands National Park, where in March 2024, a couple from Colorado was arrested for stealing archaeological artifacts worth nearly $1,000 from the Cave Spring Cowboy Camp. The Redwood National Park in Northern California has also been a hot spot for crime, with thieves targeting bronze sculptures, memorial plaques, and even mundane items like shower drains.
But the thefts aren't limited to markers and artifacts. An underground trade in burl wood has scarred the parks' world-famous redwoods, with poachers caught climbing into the parks to cut burls straight from living trees. Meanwhile, Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona has a legend stating that anyone who removes a piece of the ancient petrified wood will be cursed, with visitors returning the stolen fossils due to bad luck.
Even the massive saguaro cacti of Saguaro National Park have been targeted, with park officials spending $3,000 in 2018 to microchip 1,000 of the giant succulents to deter theft. Despite the risks, the thieves continue to strike, driven by the high resale value of these natural wonders.
