"Stop Stealing Lettuce" Urban Garden Theft Sparks Outrage Among City Farmers

Repeated Cases of Theft and Damage in Community Gardens Every Year
Minimal Security Equipment Leaves Management in Blind Spots

Various theft incidents are occurring repeatedly in public gardens in Incheon, where one must overcome fierce competition to secure a plot.

According to Yonhap News on the 3rd, Um Mo, a resident of Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, filed a complaint urging preventive measures, stating that thefts have been frequently occurring in the public gardens operated by Bupyeong-gu.

Um said, "It has been just over a month since I started cultivating the garden, but thefts of seedlings and crops are rampant," adding, "Some even complain that they might quit to avoid getting their feelings hurt."

Incheon Bupyeong-gu Public Garden
[Photo by Incheon Metropolitan City Bupyeong-gu]

Currently, Bupyeong-gu has three public gardens?Galwolsam, Buyeong, and Cheongcheon?covering a total area of 27,255㎡. This year, during the garden allocation process, the competition rate was as high as 5.78 to 1 for each 6 to 7㎡ plot, showing its popularity.

However, with the arrival of spring, planting of various seedlings such as chili peppers and perilla leaves, as well as cultivation of crops including lettuce, has become active, leading to an increase in theft incidents within the gardens.

The situation is similar in other areas where public gardens have been established. Last year, in the gardens of Yeongjong-do, Jung-gu, complaints were received such as "All 10 or so cabbages planted in one furrow were stolen" or "A large amount of radishes were pulled out."

As of November last year, 16 public gardens have been established in Incheon, with a total of 5,382 users, but cases of theft and damage in the gardens are repeated every year. Although manpower is deployed for garden management by district or county and banners with warning messages are posted, most gardens have minimal security equipment such as closed-circuit television (CCTV), leaving them vulnerable to management blind spots.

A Bupyeong-gu official said, "Taking crops without the owner's permission is a clear criminal act," and added, "We are internally considering installing CCTV in each garden."

Meanwhile, in online communities of those who have been allocated garden plots, posts complaining of damage continue to appear, such as "Someone harvested and took lettuce" or "They even brought scissors and cut the vegetables."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.