Historic rose bush stolen from Wyck House garden in Germantown

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A historic house and garden in a Philadelphia neighborhood is dealing with an unusual theft that has become a thorn in the side of workers.

The executive director at Wyck House in Germantown says staff arrived last Thursday to find someone had stolen a 110-year-old plant.

"We're really just devastated that someone would steal an important piece of our historic treasure," said Kim Staub, the executive director. "It's a beautiful little rose bush. It has these petite little pink blossoms every year. It's one of our few that bloom throughout the summer."

It is a Tausendschon rose bush, a historic plant that can be bought online for about $40. Still, the one at Wyck House was priceless.

"We suspect that someone wanted to propagate the plant, to try to regrow it for sale. We don't know for sure, but that is our belief based on how it was cut and how it was damaged," said Staub. "It was first introduced to the rose trade in 1906 and it's been here at Wyck since the 1910s.

Workers say they suspect the crime happened last Wednesday after they closed. However, there is no surveillance video to help solve the crime.

"It's not necessarily one of the most rare roses that we have, but it does have that sort of special significance having been here for 110 years," said Staub.

At the time of the crime, the plant was not in bloom. Still, the community is blush with anger.

"It's one of our most photographed, most iconic roses, and people show up and walk in the front gate, it's one of the first ones that we see," said Staub.

Workers are hoping to save what's left of the plant, but summer weather, between the heat and humidity, will make that difficult.