On Tuesday morning, the Arboretum at the University of Central Florida reported on Facebook that all vegetables in their community garden had been harvested and stolen over the weekend.
“We are disappointed to report that someone harvested and stole ALL of the vegetables from our community garden this past weekend,” the Arboretum said in the post.
“We are shocked that someone would steal our produce and show such disrespect to the hard work of our staff, students and volunteers. If anyone knows anything about this incident, please contact us. We will go forward with our Harvest Feast this Friday, and we will provide produce for the event on Thursday, as planned. Thank you for your continued support!”
The community garden opened in 2009 and has been the site of produce grown and donated by volunteers and community members.
Since the garden is open to all, no crime has been officially reported. The UCF Police Department, according to the Orlando Sentinel, is aware of the circumstances.
“Given that the Community Garden is open to everyone, no crime occurred,” UCF News & Information’s Courtney Gilmartin in an email to the Sentinel.
“However, the arboretum asks that those who would like to harvest from the garden contact Arboretum staff so they can harvest the produce together.”
The Arboretum will be celebrating its Summer Harvest Feast on Friday, July 28, with a cooking demo ahead of the event on Thursday, July 27. Both events will be located at the Timothy R. Newman Nature Pavilion.
