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Thieves Stealing Cherry Trees From San Joaquin County Farms

SALIDA (CBS13) — Criminals are targeting an unusual item in one San Joaquin County community.

Someone has been uprooting cherry trees and stealing them.

"It's just so frustrating," Salida farmer Paul Van Konynenburg said. "What you don't want is someone stealing your trees."

The fruits of Von Konynenburg's labor are literally being ripped from his fields.

"I don't know how they make money selling trees," Van Konynenburger said.

Someone is stealing his newly planted cherry trees. They have been uprooted again and again.

"They pulled up some, some they didn't pull and they jerked 'em around." Van Konynenburger said. "Our fear is that those trees might not survive."

"I have to wait a whole another year to plant another cherry tree because we only do it in the winter."

Van Konynenburg filed an online crime report with the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department.

"We hope to work with the sheriff's department to figure out who did this," Van Konynenburg said.

He says tire marks left at the scene lead him to believe the cherry crooks were on bikes.

"The thief arrives on a bicycle, pulling a small trailer, collects as much as they can," Konynenburg said.

Sometimes being a cherry farmer, is just the pits.

"For the $30 they're going to get for these trees it's going to cost me thousands of dollars in lost production," Van Konynenburg said.

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