Thieves got away with around 150lbs of vegetables after raiding a farmer’s field in Smith’s.

Farmer Carlos Amaral said that crops of broccoli and sweet potato were taken from his field on Somers Hill Road some time between Monday morning and yesterday afternoon.

Mr Ameral said the market-ready crops had a wholesale value of approximately $400. But the theft will prove even more costly because the thieves destroyed other plants while harvesting their booty.

We checked the crop on Monday morning and decided to wait one more day for harvest to get the maximum size,” Mr Ameral said.

“We came back yesterday afternoon and discovered that the thieves had beaten us to it.

“These guys were obviously sitting and watching and waiting right up until the optimum moment — they seemed to know exactly when to strike.”

Mr Ameral said that the thieves would have had to have worked hard for their prize, Sweet potatoes, which grow underground, are a difficult crop to harvest and require plenty of back-breaking spadework.

And he also suggested that the daring raid might have taken place during broad daylight.

“There’s a chance it might have happened at night, but that would have aroused suspicions if anyone had seen them,” he said.

“But if somebody sees somebody working out in a field in the middle of the day, they don’t think anything of it.

“We can get multiple harvests from a field so it’s not the end of the world, but what’s frustrating is the audacity of these individuals who are taking advantage of all the hard work that others have put in.

“We have planted the crop and nurtured it and done our due diligence, doing everything needed to bring it to fruition, and then these guys come along and steal it right at the last moment in order to sell it on and make a quick buck.

“They’re making money off the backs of hard-working people. I know economic times are hard and we’re doing all we can to help the consumer.

“It’s not unusual to find the odd crown of broccoli or some ears of corn go missing after someone has decided to help themselves because maybe they’re going hungry, but this is different — this is just wholesale theft.

The farmer said he had not reported the theft to police because there was little chance of his goods being recovered.

“The thieves will probably be going around door-to-door selling it, or setting up a stall,” he said. “But even if the police did find somebody in a suspicious situation, how would I be able to prove that the broccoli was mine?”

According to Mr Ameral, the theft of crops is one all-too frequent downside of the business which is causing increasing frustration among farmers.

“We have had issues in the past, with certain individuals targeting certain fields, working certain areas and then moving on,” he said.

“It is only a matter of time before somebody is going to be stealing crops from a field when the farmer comes along — and it is not going to be pretty.”