A large gang of armed men forced their way into a botanical garden in Roi Et province on Sunday night and stole seven blocks of precious payung wood that had earlier been seized from timber poachers.
Wisan Kudthalaeng, the forestry specialist in charge, told police that about 7.45pm an estimated 30 armed men whose faces were covered broke into Dong Ma-i Botanical Garden in Nong Phok district.
They threatened the six officials on duty, including himself. They then used a crane to load seven blocks of payung wood, about 7.61 cubic metres in total, onto a truck. They completed the robbery and left with the stolen wood, worth about 1.9 million baht, around midnight.
Mr Wisan said the stolen wood was seized by authorities on April 14 and was stored at the botanical garden.
He filed his formal complaint with Nong Sung police in Mukdahan province on Monday.
Rangers from the Protected Area Regional Office 8 in Khon Kaen were on Monday assigned to protect the botanical garden.
Dong Ma-i Botanical Garden is in a national forest reserve in tambon Pha Nam Yoi, Nong Phok district, about 86 kilometres from the Roi Et town. It covers about 1,000 rai and nurtures a range of plants mentioned in Thai literature. It is under the supervision of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.
Police were investigating the robbery.