It was a community-minded idea that led Yackandandah couple Lorna and Ian Jenkins to plant lipstick maples on a roadside verge with a neighbour.
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So they were devastated to learn that after three years of hand-watering the trees, they had been pulled from the ground and stolen.
The maples facing Yackandandah-Wodonga Road had turned a vibrant pink colour in the cool and wet weather - catching the wrong person's eye.
"They were looking the brightest they have ever been," Mrs Jenkins said.
"This lowlife couldn't get the biggest one out of the ground, it must have snapped, so he slung it on the ground, and took the other three.
"It's got to have been a man, I would think, because to get them out he would have needed a big shovel.
"We came out on Thursday morning to go and get our groceries from our daughter, because we've been isolating, and we couldn't believe they were gone."
The Jenkins have reported the theft to police.
"It's terrible, Ian was watering them with buckets over the summer because we have no hose going out there, and he's in his 80s," Mrs Jenkins said.
"When our neighbour moved in, he had nowhere to plant his trees, so he planted some out the front.
"My husband said, 'Why don't we follow through and make it a beautiful avenue into Yackandandah?'"
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"People need to know there's somebody horrible around who is stealing things, just to be aware."
The couple have lived a kilometre from the Yackandandah township for 46 years.
"We love Yackandandah," Mrs Jenkins said.
"We've had people call up sad that the trees are gone."
