China: Peach scrumpers pilfer rare fruit worth thousands
This particular orchard, however, is Chinese government property and the peaches in question are worth rather a lot of money. Scientists have been working for 13 years at the Zhengzhou Fruit Tree Research Institute in search of the perfect peach.
The three men, though had no idea of the value of the fruit and were, in all likelihood, in search of a little snack, broke into the facility to fill a few bags with peaches from trees worth in the value of three million yuan, or over $470,000 US.
"They stole maybe ten to 20 types of peaches, which we have been crossbreeding for a decade. Many of them are national research projects and they come from the last remaining trees of their type," said Niu Liang, the vice head of research at the government orchard.
The orchard was left exposed after construction work on a nearby road lead to its Eastern wall being demolished. The peaches were taken on Monday evening and residents from a nearby property raised the alarm with the authorities.
One of the scrumpers was still filling his bag with fruit when Mr Miu arrived on the scene and apprehended him. His two accomplices fled, taking their valuable loot with them.
"We are still searching for the other thieves," said Sun Yanan, a police officer who was at the scene. "We will definitely catch them. The institute is currently trying to assess the damage they caused before we decide whether there is a case."
The man who was caught, Li Yonggang, is though to have learning difficulties and to have been lead into this heinous crime by the two escapees.
"He cannot provide any names. We think the other two guys put him up to it. He has been taken away by the village security committee chief and put in custody."
Mr Li said, "I had no idea these peaches were so valuable".
Source: telegraph.co.uk
