Intruder leaves $250,000 in damage and unexplained clues; Police and staff puzzled by unusual crime scene.
By Mary Ann Esquivel-Gibbs
A break-in at Coconut Grove’s Kampong botanical garden in early September has left several items broken, up to a quarter million dollar in damage, and police investigators scratching their heads.
After arriving for work Monday morning September 9 garden staff encountered multiple signs of an intruder within the ground’s buildings: a snapped ruler, a ripped-up historical photo, damaged artwork, left-over pizza, bread tossed on the ground, soap placed in wading boots used by employees, and a statue carefully positioned on a desk atop a pool of spilled blue Gatorade.
Nothing was taken, including cash from an office desk.
“None of the actions of the offender is consistent with offenders who do that kind of crime,” Dan Kerr, Miami Police Commander for Coconut Grove, told the Spotlight. “The damage done doesn’t at all fit the burglary profile. There may be some other reason.”
Kampong officials estimate the cost to replace or repair the damage could reach $250,000, with much of that reflecting vandalism to a historic laboratory created a decade ago by the conceptual artist Mark Dion.
According to police the break-in occurred sometime between 6:00 p.m. Saturday September 7 and 6:00 a.m. Monday September 9. There were no signs of forced entry. Fingerprint evidence is pending.
“Unfortunately, acts of vandalism can occasionally occur, and recently there was an attempt to vandalize our property,” Kampong director Brian Sidoti said in a prepared statement. “The Kampong is working with local law enforcement and continues to maintain security measures and extra vigilance to ensure the safety of our property, staff and visitors.”
The nine-acre waterfront property, located at 4013 Douglas Road, was the winter home of renowned botanist and plant explorer David Fairchild, for whom the county-owned Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, a few miles south, is named. Traveling the world, Fairchild returned with rare trees and plant specimens which he cultivated at The Kampong and other properties in the area. He retired to The Kampong and died at age 85 in 1954.
After the death of his wife in 1962 the property was sold to Catherine Sweeney, who preserved it as a botanical garden and secured its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1984 Sweeney donated The Kampong to the Hawaii-based National Tropical Botanical Garden, which oversees its operations as a historic garden and research center.
Kampong staff remain perplexed by the crime: “It’s very odd,” one employee, who asked not to be identified, told the Spotlight. “I don’t know how to explain what happened because it’s so bizarre to me. Maybe the individual was trying to recreate an art installation.” Miami Police Commander Kerr is similarly baffled. “There clearly is more to this story that we may never know,” he says.
