Sandringham resident Bret Glazer had 150 avocados stolen from his property in November.

Avocado trees in an Auckland suburb are under siege, leaving residents scrambling to find ways to protect their precious fruit.

More than 150 avocados - with a market value of about $500 - were stolen from an Auckland resident's tree in an overnight raid.

The illegal night harvest took place 750 metres from a Sandringham property where the homeowner has surrounded an avocado tree with razor wire.

JACKSON THOMAS/STUFF Bret Glazer had 150 of his prized avocados stolen while he slept.

One ripe avocado currently costs $3 from Countdown.

​READ MORE: Avocado tree surrounded by razor wire in suburban Auckland

Imagine then the pain of Aucklander Bret Glazer who woke to find his 10 metre tree, laden with more than 150 avocados, had been striped earlier this year.

JACKSON THOMAS/STUFF Razor wire lines the bordering wall of this property at 67 Gribblehirst Rd, Sandringham.

Glazer, a local real estate agent who bought his Sandringham property two years ago, said the enormous avocado tree in the backyard "was a major selling point".

In February Glazer had some friends and family over and local kids marked some of the avocados with ribbons, indicating which ones would be gifted to them.

"We were really looking forward to them all coming into season, which just makes this whole thing even more disappointing," Glazer said.

JACKSON THOMAS/STUFF Only "a handful" of avocados survived the harvest, Glazer said.

The next day Glazer noticed the entire tree had been harvested.

"This wasn't a petty grab and go. You would need to have gear I mean, we have to use ladders and poles to get the fruit ourselves," he said.

The theft was not reported to the police.

"There is not much you can do really. With respect to the police, what are they going to do? It's tough to take finger prints off of a tree.

"It's not just disappointing for us but we give a lot away so all our family, friends and neighbours were effected by this."

Glazer expected the fruit was sold at a local market.

A property down the road from Glazer features razor wire lining a wall beneath another avocado tree.

And while some neighbours were concerned about public safety, Glazer said he had also considered beefing up security.

"I completely understand the frustration and totally sympathise with the homeowner there - it is theft," he said.

"In the days and hours following I certainly considered barbed wire and things like that but, we have a cat so that's probably not a good idea."

CCTV cameras and other "less extreme" security measures were in the pipeline, he said.

Auckland Council's public safety and nuisance bylaw says a person must not use a public place to install or maintain a fence, including razor wire, in a manner that may cause injury or a nuisance.

Home owners can apply for permission to erect security fencing, however any fence designed to inflict injury must be at least 2 metres above ground level.

Edgesmith Fences is an Auckland business that sells security fencing online - including razor wire.

Spokeswoman Ursula Edmonds said while the company did sell to residential homeowners, the majority of its sales were commercial.

"We do advise people that any fencing that could cause harm must be set at above 2 metres from the ground. It is not our job however, to police that after the sale," Edmonds said.