In a viral Reddit post published on r/AmITheA**hole, Redditor u/Slightly_gin-soaked (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said their partner’s mom has a deep love for plants but frequently crosses lines to acquire the newest additions to her vast collection.

Titled, “[Am I the a**hole] for abandoning my [mother-in-law] to deal with an angry flower owner, and not warning her?” the post has received nearly 8,000 upvotes in the last day.

“My [mother-in-law] enjoys cultivating plants, and has a tendency to steal cuttings from other peoples’ gardens,” OP began. “She often talks about this jokingly. Giggling over her little thievery, and claiming ’no harm, no foul.'”

Describing themselves as a “rule-abiding person,” the original poster said they disapprove of the behavior, but had never seen it in action—until recently.

While on a walk with their partner and his parents, the original poster said she noticed her mother-in-law pulling a small knife out of her pocket to take a clipping from a neighbor’s garden.

OP also noticed that, unbeknownst to their mother-in-law, there was an audience.

“At one house [she] exclaimed that a certain flower was very rare and she had been looking for it,” OP wrote. “She pulled a small knife from her pocket and took a cutting.

“I only realised what she was doing when she had the cutting in her hand…I also realised that [she] hadn’t noticed the person sitting right inside the window as she was doing it,” OP continued. “She smiled at me triumphantly and giggled, until the person opened the window and started yelling at her.

“I didn’t feel like getting yelled at and pulled away towards the end of the street,” OP added. “After a few minutes, [mother-in-law] joined me, red faced and annoyed that I abandoned her.”

The world of plant theft is large and complex.

Although conventional wisdom might lead many to think it is perfectly acceptable to propagate any plant in their possession, many plant varieties are under patent and therefore prohibited from being cloned without prior consent.

“You cannot propagate patented plants without the inventor’s permission,” Gardening Know How reports. “Violating plant patents is against the law and a form of stealing.”

The same goes for “proplifting,” otherwise known as taking fallen leaves and other plant parts from retail locations—or restaurants, as was the case in one recent Newsweek article—to replant at home in hopes of successful growth at little to no cost.

And like taking a bicycle, garden gnome or any other front lawn fixture, taking a cutting from another homeowner’s plant without permission is theft—not a “no harm, no foul” offense.

Throughout the comment section of the viral Reddit post, Redditors echoed this sentiment and called out the original poster’s mother-in-law for believing that her thievery is victimless, and something to laugh about.

“She’s a coward who likes to get away with petty crime,” Redditor u/PlentyCommission166 wrote in the post’s top comment, which has received nearly 13,000 upvotes. “If you want a cutting, you knock and compliment their plants and ask.

“Most folks say ‘yes’ and then you have a new friend to talk about plans [with],” they continued. “Thieves never make friends.”

Redditor u/BarracudaGullible, whose comment has received nearly 3,000 upvotes, offered a similar response.

“She was well overdue for a scolding, and there was no reason for you to hang about and appear to support her,” they wrote. “You probably should have made your disapproval explicit before this but…she’s a grown a** woman who should have known better.”

“[She] is a thief,” Redditor u/The__Riker__Manuever chimed in, receiving more than 1,300 upvotes. “Just keep reminding people of that.”

Newsweek reached out to u/Slightly_gin-soaked for comment.