IN a truly bizarre heist, thieves have stolen thousands of avocados from a property near Barmera in the Riverland.

Thousands of avocados were taken from more than 20 trees at the Moorook property, east of Barmera, between Sunday, August 24, and Thursday, September 4.

In all, 1500kg of avocados were stolen.

The heist cost the grower an estimated $11,000 based on wholesale prices, but with avocados retailing for $3-4 each and weighing about 350g, the haul could retail for up to $18,000.

Inspector Mark Gould from SA Police said the crime was well planned and would have involved multiple people.

“Being able to strip a fair amount of trees of their avocados would’ve taken some time and would’ve taken some effort, so I believe more than one person is involved,” he said.

“If somebody saw anybody with a trailer with a bin of avocados on the back, on around about September 4 in the Moorook area, we’d certainly like to hear from them.”

Citrus Australia SA Region (CASAR) chair Con Poulos, who is involved with local horticulture groups said the raid would be devastating for farmers who are already doing it tough.

“This can create biosecurity risks with them coming straight off the farm this fruit could end up anywhere and not checked for pests,” Mr Poulos.

“The biggest issue is farmers are already doing it tough. This guy’s put in 12 months sweat and tears ... there’s high costs with water, fertiliser, electricity and you don’t know if it's the bulk of his production. It’s like someone breaking into your house.”

“It’s a crime and I’m hopeful police can catch whoever did it.”

Sadly, this isn’t an isolated incident.

In 2011 more than $4000 worth of ripe tomatoes worth $4000 were stolen from vines at Virginia.

Police said at the time it appeared to be a professional job and would have taken a team of five pickers about five hours to steal the fruit and that the produce would more than likely be sold at a produce market here or interstate.

In 2009 police were in a pickle after thieves targeted cucumbers in a bizarre series of raids on local market gardens in the northern suburbs.

The cucumbers, estimated to be worth more than $10,000, were stolen in 10 separate incidents from glasshouses in Virginia, Waterloo Corner and Buckland Park over a period of almost four months.

Growers at the time were urged to consider additional security as police stressed it was difficult identifying “one cucumber from another”.

Police are hopeful security cameras on the property of the most recent raid will help with their investigation and are also seeking help from the public to identify the offenders.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online.

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