Ms Holcomb views the raid as a violation of her constitutional rights; she plans to grow another pot plant next summer

Her son was reportedly told by police no charges would be filed if he did not ask them to produce a search warrant

Holcomb does not have a medical marijuana card allowing her to cultivate or posses pot

officials cut down the 6-foot-tall pot plant that Holcomb, 81, had been growing in her

A National Guard helicopter descended one afternoon in late September on the Massachusetts home of an 81-year-old grandmother to seize a lone marijuana plant from her backyard.

Margaret 'Peg' Holcomb says she had been growing the plant behind her South Amherst house for medicinal purposes, namely, to ease the discomfort associated with her arthritis and glaucoma.

The 6-foot-tall marijuana plant was almost ready to be harvested when on September 21, as Holcomb's son, Tim Holcomb, and her daughter were having a late lunch at her home, they heard the sound of a helicopter buzzing overhead.

Granny grower: Margaret Holcomb (left), 81, had her sole marijuana plant seized by the Massachusetts National Guard and State Police in a raid on her home last month

Holcomb had been illegally cultivating the pot plant for years for medicinal purposes, as she suffers from arthritis and glaucoma (stock image)

They looked up and saw two men on board the military-style aircraft aiming an electronic apparatus at the house, likely a thermal imaging device, reported the Hampshire Daily Gazette.

Less than 10 minutes later, members of the Massachusetts National Guard and State Police converged on the property, marched into Ms Holcomb's backyard and cut down her solitary marijuana plant, which had been growing in a pink trellis amidst a raspberry patch.

They tossed the pot plant in the back of a pickup truck, where it joined nearly four dozen other plants that had been seized from nearby properties as part of a drug raid that day. All of the confiscated plants were then hauled away to be destroyed.

Margaret Holcomb was vacationing in Maine at the time, so a plainclothes law enforcement official questioned her son about the pot plant and whether he was aware that his mother had been growing it in her yard.

Tim Holcomb told the local newspaper that he was informed that no charges would be filed in connection to the illegally cultivated marijuana plant if he did not ‘escalate’ the situation by asking the raiding officers to produce a search warrant.

Margaret Holcomb does not have a medical marijuana card allowing her to legally grow or possess pot. There is currently only one dispensary in Northampton, Massachusetts, about 8 miles east of her home.

The 81-year-old grandmother says while she is no social activist, she considers the raid on her home to be a violation of her constitutional rights.

‘This is not what happens in a democratic society,’ she told the Boston Herald. ‘We don’t have people flying over us and watching us, then coming and invading our property.’

Holcomb's son, Tim (center), who was at her home at the time of the drug bust, says he was told no charges would be filed if he did not ask for a search warrant

Speaking to the paper, she said has been discreetly growing a single marijuana plant for many years, strictly for personal use, not for sale.

'Some people drink wine at night, occasionally I’ll have a little smoke,' the spry octogenarian told the Herald, describing marijuana as a 'healthful' and' vital' plant.

The woman has reached out to an attorney and is considering pursuing legal action in the case. She has not been charged with any crime for growing marijuana.