Hong Kong police launch manhunt after hundreds of grape plants cut down at farm
More than 700 plants were cut down at a farm in Yuen Long during the night
Hong Kong detectives are investigating a mysterious mass plant-felling at a farm in Yuen Long, after more than 700 grape plants worth about HK$500,000 were cut down.
The owner of the farm, surnamed Yeung, told the Post on Wednesday evening that almost half of his 1,600 grape plants were felled at the 200,000-sq-ft farm in Tai Tong Tsuen off Kiu Hing Road.
“I had not had any personal or business disputes with others. I don’t know why my farm was targeted,” he said.
He said it was the first such incident since he began growing strawberries and grapes at the farm four years ago.
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The case came to light when his workers returned to the farm before 7am on Wednesday. He said they left the farm at about 9pm on Tuesday after work.
“The grape plants were felled overnight,” the 46-year-old owner said, adding that it was likely that tools were used to cut down the plants.
He said a hole was also cut in the barbed-wire fence that surrounded the farm.
Police were called to the farm after receiving a report from the owner at about 10.30am on Wednesday.
Yeung said he would enhance security around the farm and install security cameras after the incident.
A police spokesman said the case had been classified as criminal damage and detectives from the Yuen Long police district were investigating. So far, no one has been arrested.
According to official statistics, police handled 3,042 reports of criminal damage across the city in the first seven months of this year, a 3.4 per cent rise compared with 2,943 in the same period last year.
