Hundreds of plants stolen from Newton Community Farm
NEWTON - Police are investigating after hundreds of plants were stolen from Newton Community Farm.
The plants were taken sometime between 7:30 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday.
The farm said scallions, eggplants and cucumbers were dug up from the field. Seedling trays of tomato, kale and corn were stolen from the greenhouse. The farm said the thieves knew what they were doing.
"We felt shocked because we're here to grow plants, to distribute vegetables to others," said Sue Bottino, the executive director of the Newton Community Farm. "Our whole mission is to engage the public in sustainable agriculture, we donate food, we donate plants, we donate our time, we share with the community our whole purpose for being here. And to think someone would steal from a small community farm is just incredulous."
The farm said the thieves left footprints in the soil. Police are pledging to step up patrols and the farm will be installing security cameras.
