Abowd: A flower basket is stolen from downtown

There's one fewer flower basket in downtown Carson City after one was stolen only days after they were put up.

Supervisor Karen Abowd said it appears to have been taken either late Sunday or early Monday. They were hung Friday.

"I don't understand the logic or mindset behind it," Abowd said. "It makes no sense to me."

She said that city workers immediately went out and crimped the remaining hooks to make the remaining baskets more difficult to steal.

The petunias in the pots were grown by special-needs students at Carson High School starting in January, she said. Each basket is also sponsored by businesses or individuals for $225 per basket or $400 for a pair, she said.

The first $6,000 of the money raised goes to pay the salary of the city employee who waters the plants and the rest goes the Carson High School greenhouse, she said.

"It's not just the flowers, it's all the time and energy that goes into it," she said.

She encouraged anyone with information about the missing basket to go to the sheriff's office at 911 E. Musser St. or to call 775-887-2500.

Two baskets were stolen last year and one was returned. Abowd hopes this missing basket will join it.