PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Police in Maine's biggest city are on the lookout for a thief with an eye for roses.

Gardeners at Portland's Deering Oaks Park noticed Monday that someone had snipped 100 blooms from the rose bushes. The same thing happened last year but not on the same scale.

The Deering Oaks Rose Circle features 600 rose bushes, and horticulture supervisor John Shannon calls it a "jewel to the city of Portland."

Shannon tells The Portland Daily Sun he's saddened to see the poaching. Police are boosting patrols.

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