A New Jersey peach farmer is asking for the public’s help after finding thieves had stripped his trees bare last week and made off with over $1,000 in produce.
On Tuesday, Tom Holthauzer walked over to his 144-acre orchard in Mullica Hill to discover every tree was bare. Some peaches were not even ripe yet. The thieves left no trash or tracks in the field and none of the trees were damaged. Holthauzer estimates he lost about 800 pounds or 20 bushels of the fruit.
He’s now asking for his loyal customers and neighbors to pay attention to traffic outside his farm and to watch for any strange vehicles parked in the street.
“What happened is now these people stole all of my white peaches we would have had for the next week so please try to help me out,” Holthauzer said. “I work very hard at what I do.”
According to NJ.com, the Holtzhauser farm has been in operation since Tom’s great-grandfather started it in 1897 and consists of retail, wholesale, and sales to area restaurants.
