The City of Greater Geraldton has taken the unusual step of microchipping expensive plants, after thieves made off with two Grass Trees worth $300 each.

Acting CEO Ross McKim said the theft from one of the city’s roundabouts was disappointing and the iconic plants have now been micro chipped for the purpose of tracking and identification.

“Stealing is absolutely unacceptable behaviour,” he said.

“It is very disappointing to see our efforts to beautify the City’s roundabouts with Grass Trees and other native plantings being undone, especially since we’ve received such positive feedback from the community on these works.

“Since the theft, the City has GPS microchipped all Grass Trees so they can be monitored and tracked.”

The microchips are the same type commonly used to track down lost pets, and cost a couple of dollars each.

“It’s unfortunate the City has to take these measures to combat the theft of these trees but if it enables us to recover stolen community property it is worth the effort,” McKim added.

Acting Director of Infrastructure Services Chris Lee told the ABC he believed it was the first time the tactic had been employed by a local council in the state.

"I'm not aware of this being done elsewhere in the state personally," he said.

"It's a fairly simple process and it should be a strong deterrent to stop people doing this in the future."