Northwood community garden in Bedford robbed of produce

Plants from the William E. Frank Live More Park & Community Garden in Bedford, N.S., were stolen over the weekend.

Surveillance footage captured Saturday around 2 a.m. AT showed people loading produce, like beans and tomatoes, into a white Audi vehicle.

"Whenever they took the produce, there was not just a tomato taken from the plant — it was the entire plant ripped out of the entire garden bed itself," said Alyson Estey, a communications assistant at Northwood, a long-term care facility.

The community garden has 42 beds and all of them were rented out by people in the community.

Estey said it's unclear how many were disturbed in the theft.

'It's sad'

She said the garden is in its third year and that people at both the long-term care facility and members of the public were using it.

Estey said a lot of work was put into getting the word out about the garden in the community, what it's for and how it's used. She said the biggest challenge is it involves a lot of trust.

"It's sad. At the end of the day, people are stealing from a community garden where maybe people have fixed incomes are using this kind of thing to help get organic, fresh produce," she said. "It's just a disappointment."

Estey said the incident was reported to the police.

Halifax police spokesperson Const. John MacLeod said he was unaware of the incident, but said it's possible he hasn't yet received the file.

"We're absolutely prepared to help with any prosecution or any investigation that happens from this if there's someone that's caught," he said.