Rabbits like to eat flowers. Maybe they tasted them and didn't like them. Don't blame EVERYTHING on squirrels.

Richard, Got a picture?
- How far is the bench from the budding bush?
- How high Up is the bench seat?
Sounds like bud.pilfering (or a disrespectful individual) to me.

Squirrels will eat Camellias buds. I have seen them pulling the buds off mine and running through the yard with them for an apparently tasty snack.

The bench is about four feet away from the Camellia bush. I suspect FurryCritterFan is probably right. It was probably a disrespectful individual. Probably kids because when the adults pick my flowers they take the flowers inside and put them in vases. The reason I suspect people is because I doubt the squirrels could have picked the flowers without knocking off some of the petals onto the ground under the bush. The rabbits that use to visit my yard seemed to have disappeared since the foxes having been hanging around my neighborhood.

I would have prefered squirrels were the culprits.

Richard