In fall of 2025, the one new story that I just could not get enough of was the heist at the Louvre.

You remember the one. It happened in broad daylight. The thieves went in at 9.30 in the morning while the museum was open. And they made off with the French crown jewels. All these tiaras and necklaces that were just dripping with diamonds and emeralds.

It sent me down this big rabbit hole of reading about other heists, stolen artwork,

paintings rolled up and put in closets. But one story in particular caught my eye.

It was about this heist that took place in 2013.

And it wasn't in a museum or a bank or any kind of royal palace.

It was in a garden.

And what these thieves were after were Venus fly traps.

More than a thousand plants were poached.

You can tell because there are little holes in there around where these plants used to be.

Here's something I bet you didn't know about Venus fly traps.

They're actually quite rare.

They only grow naturally within about 90 miles of Wilmington, North Carolina.

So if you combine that with their unusual diets and their very cool appearance,

you can understand why Venus flytraps inspire very strong feelings in people.

Some dedicate their whole lives to caring for these plants, and others to stealing

them. I'm Amanda McGowan, and this is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the world's strange,

incredible, and wondrous places. Today we're going to a hot spot for Venus Flytraps.

It's called the Stanley Reeder Carnivorous Plant Garden in Wilmington, North Carolina.

We will talk about plants that eat meat, a Venus flytrap lover with a vanity license plate,

and the shocking $20,000 heist that is still an unsolved mystery to this day.

That's after this. If we were standing together looking out over the Stanley Reader carnivorous plant garden,

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