Woman ‘butchers’ aloe vera plant outside Woodlands beauty shop, walks off after slicing over 10 leaves
A woman who found an aloe vera plant placed outside a heartland beauty shop in Woodlands proceeded to cut off its leaves and stash them into a bag before walking away.
Speaking to Stomp, Seemren, the managing director of Seemralicious Beauty Services, said the incident occurred on the morning of May 5 at entrance of the shop, located at Block 166 Woodlands Street 13.
The 43-year-old posted CCTV footage of the incident on Instagram, but has since taken down the clip.
In the clip, a woman clad in a black shirt and shorts approaches the shop, looking around before bringing what appears to be a knife to a potted plant placed at the shop’s entrance.
The woman cuts off two leaves in a vigorous sawing motion and places them in a plastic bag. She then slices off nine more leaves before walking off in the direction she came from, leaving the once-full plant in shreds.
The shop owner called out the “plant thief” in the on-screen caption, threatening to inform the authorities if the woman did not apologise.
“Not just stolen… but DESTROYED. Who walks into a small business and butchers our aloe vera plant like this?” she wrote in the post’s caption, calling for anyone who recognised the woman to contact her.
Seemren told Stomp that the plant cost about $80 and that she had been caring for it for 1.5 years.
She added that the woman had visited the shop to apologise while she was not around. However, despite staff members informing the woman to contact her, Seemren had not received any call from her.
The police told Stomp that they received a report and are looking into the matter.
‘Frustrating and sickening’: Netizens respond
The video garnered over 216,000 views, drawing alarmed reactions from netizens.
“Aiyo the plant almost botak. Might as well she take the whole pot,” one netizen commented.
Others said the woman’s actions were “rough” and “shameless”, while another urged the shop owner to inform the police.
“It takes hard work to nurture a plant from scratch and when someone does this, it’s really frustrating and sickening,” the netizen wrote.
However, one user pointed out that she “didn’t kill the plant”, asking the shop owner to “relax”.
“She took some leaves maybe to replant or to make something useful or therapeutic. Such a simple issue. Speak to her. We need to be a kinder community. Spread love,” commented the netizen.
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