Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - The rising prices for electricity and gas are tempting more and more people to steal wood from the forests. The thieves were sometimes strictly organized, said Max Reger from ForstBW, the largest forestry company in Baden-Württemberg. "The wood is not only transported illegally with car trailers, but sometimes also with whole truckloads," he said on Monday. But smaller amounts are also being stolen from the state forests: "In addition to whole logs, we are now finding more and more often that wood thieves are also targeting firewood," said Reger. Holzklau is not a trivial offense, but a criminal offence.
The damage caused by the firewood thieves is considerable, said the state forest president. After the crime, the wood is by no means always used, but also illegally resold.
In the state forest, the foresters have been on the trail of the wood thieves for years with tracking transmitters. "We will now strengthen that," said a ForstBW spokesman. With the GPS trackers, wood can be tagged and tracked over the internet. "If our employees find that the trunks are moving, although no clearance has been given for removal, we call the police directly," said Reger. The small devices would also be hidden in firewood by the foresters.
Firewood has recently become significantly more expensive. According to the forest owner association AGDW (Berlin), a solid meter cost between 60 and 70 euros last year, but it is now 100 to 200 euros. "If firewood is available at all, because many dealers only supply their regular customers," said association spokesman Jürgen Gaulke . The wood theft is not yet a mass problem. As a rule, smaller quantities would be stolen. However, the number of cases in which this is not the case is increasing, said Gaulke.
