SANDY SPRINGS, S.C. - Ruby Love learned first hand how timber theft is increasing across South Carolina.

Love, 79, has lived in this Anderson County community for 43 years. She remembers seeing workers cutting trees from a neighbor's yard. Needing money to fix her home, she asked them to come cut some trees from her eight acres of property.

"He cut some and gave me a $50 check," she said. "He said, 'I'll be back next week to pay you the rest.' They never came."

Instead, they moved their equipment late one Sunday night with Love's valuable timber in their pockets.

The state Forestry Commission investigates 200 cases of timber theft and fraud each year, but estimates there are more than 1,000 cases costing the state $10 million, The Greenville News reported.

Most timber theft in South Carolina happens in the Midlands and Lowcountry. The numbers in the five Upstate counties and their 1.3 million acres of forest land is increasing. Officials say they are investigating 28 cases of timber theft in Greenville, Pickens, Oconee, Anderson and Laurens counties this year, almost double the 16 cases from 1998 to 2000.

Love settled her complaint for $550, much less than the timber was worth. Former fraud investigator Ken Cabe, now a spokesman with the state Forestry Commission, says Love's case is typical. "Many times the negotiated price is bordering on criminal and then the criminal doesn't even make good on those prices," he said.

Delandra Navarro is an Orangeburg attorney who has handled cases of timber theft for victims along the Savannah River, an area where the Forestry Commission says many victims are elderly and black.

Navarro says many victims have no idea how much timber is worth.

"The public needs to have knowledge that this is a problem, to be more cautious and know their property," she said.

Love said she has always trusted people, "but after that, I don't know."

Timber theft is a difficult crime to catch.

Mike Heath, the Forestry Commission's chief of law enforcement, remembers the case of a Richland County landowner who lived in Pennsylvania. He called someone out to cut trees on their property.

"When the person got out there, he said, 'What trees?' " Heath said.

Timber thieves can be sophisticated, Heath says. They can use aerial photos or spend time in courthouses digging into the lives of landowners whose trees they want to cut.

Such crimes were largely handled by local sheriffs. The Legislature deputized the Forestry Commission, whose largest duty until then was investigating fires.

Navarro thinks South Carolina takes the crime seriously and wants to help victims.

"They do a good job," she said. "They're knowledgeable and they're really trying to do something about it."

Heath said the investigations take months. And while they're rarely for huge amounts of money, a few thousand dollars are a fortune to the typical victims of timber fraud. A truckload of trees can bring a logger about $1,000.

"I figure we're just touching the tip of the iceberg," Heath said.

Information from: The Greenville News