FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (AP) - A valuable bonsai tree stolen from a Federal Way museum has been recovered, but museum officials say it doesn't look the same after it was severely pruned.
The executive director of the Pacific Bonsai Museum says the thieves' pruning job undid decades of careful work to shape the 60-year-old San Jose juniper. Kathy McCabe says the tree will survive but it will take years to restore it to the work of art it once was.
The bonsai tree, measuring about 16 inches tall, was recovered Wednesday morning 2 miles from the museum. Museum officials received a tip and alerted police.
McCabe doesn't know who took it or why. She's just grateful to have it back.
The tree was snatched from a public display early Monday. It is estimated to be worth thousands of dollars.
