Brazen Thieves – Over 60 olive trees stolen from plantation

Strangers apparently have confused a newly emerging olive plantation in the Eisenstadt area with a self-service shop. The brutal thieves stole newly planted trees from the area. However, not two or three pieces, but several dozen. Between 60 and 80 plants were dug up and simply removed, says owner and Pannolio boss David Schopper. The tree thieves have acted extremely radically. At a certain point there is not a single tree left, in between a piece has been left free and higher up more have been removed.

No respect for other people’s property
Even though the financial damage is fairly limited, the anger about the brutal action is great. Unfortunately, some people wouldn’t even consider it a trivial offense to use someone else’s property, says Schopper. It’s not just about the classic grape thieves, but also about stolen vines and even breaking into foil tunnels to steal vegetables. “It’s a pity that people satisfy their kleptomaniac needs in this way.” In addition, fields and agricultural land are all too happy to be used as “dog toilets”. Schopper, whose plantation is located directly on a cycle path, also has to contend with this. He hopes the problem will go away once the fence is finished.

Bad luck for the thieves
Incidentally, he does not believe that the tree robbers will be happy with the seedlings. The stress and heat would take their toll on the plants, so there’s a good chance they’ll die. But even if they survive, there will be no harvest: “The stolen trees are of a species that do not pollinate each other. That means that no olives grow on the trees.”