Seven Mainlanders, aged 16 to 20, have been jailed for stealing and handling 11 Buddhist Pine trees.

Of the six convicted of theft and unlawfully remaining in Hong Kong, five were each sentenced to four years prison while the youngest, at 16, was sentenced to three years and four months.

Their sampan coxswain was sentenced to four years and eight months prison for handling stolen goods, endangering the safety of others at sea, failing to stop and assisting the passage of unauthorised entrants to Hong Kong.

The District Court heard that on February 13, Marine Police saw six men load 11 tree trunks onto a sampan at Sai Kung. After a brief chase, Police intercepted the vessel and found the seven illegal immigrants and the trees uprooted from Long Ke Chai.