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A Welcome Bay resident is considering giving up gardening after thieves raided his vegetable garden twice in a week.
Welcome Bay resident Craig Montgomerie’s vegetable garden has been raided twice in recent weekends.
Craig Montgomerie says his garden was raided on the weekend of 16 June and again the following weekend on June 23.
All of his fresh crops were taken, and he’s concerned about the up and coming lot.
"They took a whole lot of silverbeet, two red cabbages and two ‘brocco-flowers’.
"I was kind of hoping it wouldn’t be reoccurring, but then another red cabbage went missing this weekend.
"They have taken everything that was ready. There’s a whole lot more coming along and that’s the thing I’m really worried about, that they know what’s coming up."
Craig has no clue as to who took his vegetables, but is frustrated it’s beginning to become a regular occurrence.
"Maybe it was a struggling family that was desperate. I thought that’s fine, but it happened a second time.
"I don’t know [who it is], I assume they are hungry or lazy... It’s bad, I mean, I shouldn’t have to put up an electric fence or something, It’s my veggie garden, for me."
The thefts have left Craig contemplating if he should give up gardening, a hobby which has been passed down through generations in his family.
Constable Leanne Fairbairn says the theft of vegetables isn’t common but people need to alert police to stop it happening in the future.
"We haven’t had any reports of garden theft. We know there have been theft of garden ornaments in the past but not vegetable plants."
"It doesn’t surprise me it’s happening though in these economic times.
"[People] do need to report this to police. We need to know what’s happening."
Community Garden co-ordinator, Anne Gourley, says there are ways to put vandals off stealing from vegetable gardens.
"We tend to choose vegetables which don’t look quite so normal. We notice that people who vandalise tend to go for the really normal stuff.
"If you sprinkle flour over your plants and put up a sign saying ’plants currently being treated, do not eat’, it might put people off taking it."
At this stage no other gardens have been reported vandalised in Tauranga.
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Posted on 02-07-2012 18:44 | By SpeakUp
...have been met by ’all out’resistance during times when theft like that would have been regarded as a life threatening deed. I’m afraid, but these times will come again.