A 19-year-old man arrested over a theft of trees at the National Arboretum has been remanded in custody.
Malec Bandy was arrested on Wednesday evening and charged with one count of receiving stolen property.
He allegedly received one of the 12 dragon trees stolen from the arboretum some time between 6pm on Monday and 6.30am on Tuesday. Bandy has been variously described as being from Griffith and Chifley.
He made no application for bail and was remanded in custody to appear again before the ACT Magistrates Court on August 19.
A 23-year-old man from Kambah has been arrested for allegedly receiving stolen property, with a court date yet to be fixed.
Meanwhile, the curator of the arboretum says five of the 12 trees he described as his babies are likely to survive the ordeal.
Adam Burgess said the disappearance of the trees had caused much consternation within the team at the arboretum.
''When I got to the police station it reminded me of when I was waiting at the maternity hospital for the birth of my children, hoping that everything would be OK,'' he said.
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