SITIAWAN: Two men were tied to a coconut tree by villagers after they were found stealing coconuts at the Sekolah Agama Rakyat Al-Hidayah in Kampung Batu 7 Lekir on Saturday morning.

In the 10.30am incident, several villagers successfully nabbed the two individuals after the owner of a nearby grocery store spotted them climbing the five-metre high tree and alerted other villagers who then tied the men to the tree.

"They admitted to have taken the coconuts and we then tied them both up to the tree using the rope they had utilised to pluck the fruit," said former village head Mohd Yaacob Hashim.

The 65-year-old man said that there were bunches of coconuts in the Proton Wira being used by the two men and added that he was not sure if these coconuts were taken from the village or from other places.

He said that the two people were tied up to teach them a lesson, adding that one of the men was in his 30s while the other was in his teens.

Mohd Yaacob said the two suspects had begged to be released, confessing it was the first time they had done such a thing.

"We tied the both of them while waiting for police to arrive, and we did not hit or hurt them. Who would have thought in this blessed month there were still people who performed immoral activities," he added. - Bernama