There’s a cool way to be mysterious, and then there’s just a really crappy way of being mysterious. The Valentine’s Day heart bandit is a perfect example of what being a good mysterious bandit looks like. Here’s an example of what a really bad bandit looks like, and I’m kind of sick of seeing the destruction. While we’d sleep, he’d be awake dressing the town with paper hearts so we’d wake up feeling loved. However, in this case, this mysterious flower bandit is not the good kind.

Here’s what’s going on, from what I’m witnessing at least. Since I get up around 4 a.m. everyday, I end up walking into work near Monument Square in Portland, Maine around 5 a.m. Most of the little shops and store fronts that line the square have little flower pots that keep the aesthetic looking clean and welcoming to the public. I always adore them. The last few days that I’ve been walking into work, the soil from their pots have been dug up and the flowers have been laying un-planted on the ground. Yesterday I took a long look around and it seems whoever has been doing this destruction of flower pots had hit every store on the entire street.

What is the purpose of this? The flowers seem to be picked at and then thrown away on the ground. The soil is scattered all over walk ways and streets which honestly made it look like it was some kind of malicious act. Whoever is doing this to store fronts over-night doesn’t seem to care to hide the evidence of their destruction.

When I spoke with some neighboring businesses they told me that this isn’t the first time this flower bandit has struck over-night. Truly it’s dis-heartening and a bit concerning. Have you witnesses this human at all in any capacity?