Timber smugglers have stolen a sandalwood tree from the premises of the Odisha Raj Bhavan here. The tree was chopped off and carried away by the thieves who made small logs out of it.

Public Relations Officer (PRO), Governor House, Rakshak Kumar Nayak told The Telegraph, “Governor’s House has already lodged a complaint with the police commissionerate and investigation has begun.”

Sources said the tree was first chopped off and later the logs were stolen on Sunday night.

Confirming this, inspector, Capital Police Station, Padmanabha Behera told this newspaper: “Governor House has lodged an FIR on October 31. The investigation is on. So far no breakthrough has been made in this case.”

Police are examining the video footage of the premises. The official said the sandalwood tree was not less than 40 years old. “It was located near the quarters of the doctor inside the premises of the Governor’s House. The incident took place when the Governor was away from Odisha. He will be back on November 5,” an official said.

The theft of the sandalwood tree from the Governor House has raised serious questions about the security system.

The development comes days before the scheduled visit of President Droupadi Murmu to Odisha beginning November 10. During her visit, she is scheduled to stay at the Raj Bhavan.

Sandalwood thieves are active in Odisha and on the Andhra border and they target the sandal trees in hilly areas of Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Gajapati, Ganjam and Kandhamal. In September 2022 Andhra Pradesh Police arrested a gang near the Odisha border and seized 396 sandalwood logs weighing 4,200 kg worth over Rs 2 crore from them. Two cars and 14 mobile phones were also seized from the gang.