Elwood residents ‘fed-up’ after vegetables, fruit trees go missing from backyards

A green-thumbed thief is brazenly pinching veggie plants — and even an entire fruit tree — from people’s backyards in Melbourne’s inner south, with one fed-up victim hoping chilli stolen from her patch is “extra hot” as a serve of karma.

Elwood residents are on the hunt for a vegetable thief lurking in the area.

A green-thumbed thief is creating havoc for gardeners in Elwood and surrounds, brazenly pinching veggie plants from people’s backyards.

The hungry crook has already taken off with two whole basil plants, a jalapeño plant, a passionfruit plant, and strawberry plant — and even an entire kumquat tree.

Elwood’s Megan Dell is “absolutely fed-up” after her apartment’s veggie patch was raided twice in one month, and hopes the chilli they stole is “extra hot” as a serve of karma.

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Ms Dell is certain it isn’t animals pinching her tasty goods either, with the thief using a shovel to delicately remove the plants.

She said residents had also been stung with other bizarre crime over the last 12 months too, including clothes taken off people’s lines and barbecues stolen off balconies.

“People joke about it, but it’s an invasion of privacy and it doesn’t make you feel good at all,” she said.

Vegetables and fruit trees aren’t the usual priority for thieves, but this crook was hungry.

“Someone has walked onto our property and taken the time to dig up these things and no one has seen or reported anything.”

Ms Dell, whose veggie patch is located around the side of her apartment complex without any fence, said she had lived in the building for nine years and had noticed a spike in crime in the past two.

“There’s been a shift, a lack of community care and a lack of respect,” she said.

“I wouldn’t have minded if they took one chilli or some basil, but when I saw the whole thing was gone again I seriously couldn’t believe it.”

Fellow residents also shared stories of veggie thieves, with one saying they had “hundreds of dollars of pot plants stolen when they moved into an apartment with no front gate” and another lady saying her mature kumquat tree was dug up from her yard.