ZHENGZHOU, March 28 -- A township official has been detained for stealing expensive garden roses from a roadside field in central China's Henan Province, police said on Friday.

Luo Dasheng, an official with Maoji Township of Tongbai County in Nanyang City, stole 31 China rose plants from a field near Binhe Road in the city. He then planted them in his own yard, said Lu Bo, a police officer with the Zhongjing Police Station under the city's public security bureau.

According to the city's landscape bureau, the plants, a precious kind, were worth nearly 50,000 yuan (8,050 U.S. dollars).

The landscape bureau called the police about the missing plants on March 3. Luo was tracked down by the police, thanks to a surveillance camera that caught his vehicle registration plate.

Luo, in his 50s, said he removed the plants on March 2 with the help of three friends, as he thought they were beautiful.

Police detained him and his accomplice friends on March 15.

When police apprehended him, Luo was quoted as saying, "I just pulled some flowers. What's the big deal?"

Media reports have identified Luo as deputy head of Maoji Township, but this has not been confirmed.

"We did not investigate Luo's exact title at the township. Everybody is equal before the law, no matter who he or she is," Lu said.