Mass spectrometry to catch Christmas tree thieves and timber traffickers

Last December, a spruce festooned by members of the Women’s Institute in the English village of Graveney was stolen in broad daylight – lights and all. About a week before Christmas 2020, a five-member team was captured on video spiriting away a merry tree from the lobby of a University of British Columbia building. Christmas season 2020 also saw ‘three unwise men’ helping themselves to trees at a pop-up shop in southwest London, while 2019 saw a duo do the same in Houston, Texas. These real-life grinches are just the tip of the timber-thieving iceberg.