New discoveries of stolen trees in Odder Municipality increase mystery surrounding missing trees

On Tuesday evening, a new development emerged in the mystery surrounding the missing trees in Odder Municipality. Authorities discovered 23 new tree stumps on a different municipal property between Ørting and Hundslund, bringing the total number of stolen trees to 54.

This latest finding surprised Helle Bøhl-Møller, head of Technical and Environmental Affairs in Odder Municipality. She noted, “We had focused on the initial batch of felled and stolen trees, and it came as a shock that this has also occurred elsewhere with an additional 23 trees.” The trees vary in size, with one exceeding a meter in diameter, which Helle Bøhl-Møller indicated would have required significant machinery and planning for its removal.

The motivations behind these actions remain unclear. “When a tree is felled, it’s considered vandalism, but when it’s taken, it becomes theft,” she explained. While the municipality cannot rule out a connection between the two cases, they are not speculating further and have left the investigation to the police.

Authorities are still in the dark regarding the motives and the perpetrator. Helle Bøhl-Møller remarked, “We know nothing about the motive yet. We can only speculate that it relates to the value of firewood and chips.”

According to East Jutland Police, they have received reports from Odder Municipality regarding felled trees at two locations connected to these incidents. In a formal response, the police stated, “We are investigating the cases and examining what has occurred and what type of case this is.”