Collection box stolen from sunflower U-pick

A small Island farm was the victim of theft this week, when a birdhouse the family used to accept donations in exchange for U-pick sunflowers was stolen from the property.

Kendall Docherty saidhis family checks the birdhouse dailyand emptied it around 11 p.m. Wednesday evening. He saidit wasn't until Thursday that the family discovered their collection box was missing.

"We had a couple customers who actually came up to the house during the day,who said they went to pay atthe birdhouse but it was gone," saidDocherty. "It never tipped my wife off, she thought they weren't seeing it. When I got home and told her the box was missing, we realized that somebody had actually stolen it."

Knives also stolen

Docherty can't be sure how much money, if any, was inside the collection box at the time, but he says it generally contains anywhere from $60-$80 on any given day.

Three knives, used to harvest the sunflowers, were also stolen. He saidother farms in the area, who use the honour system to sell produce, have been the victims of theft, but this is the first time a thief actually removed items from a property.

"It's a small amount and it's not a great thing," saidDocherty. "It's just the thought that, you put something out there, trusting people will be honourable, and they come and take it, it's not very nice, you feel a bit violated."

Honour system remains in place

Docherty saiddespite the theft, he didn't hesitate to install another birdhouse with a more hearty bolt.

He said money from the U-pick sunflowers is usuallydonated to two animal rescue charities on the Island. He is forgiving of whoever took the money but saidhe'd appreciate having the knives returned.

"We're not ging to hold any grudges, obviously they needed the money in the box more than they thought we did," saidDocherty.

"It's there for a charitable purpose to begin with, just return items you stole, and we can resurrect them so they can do the purpose they were intended for."

Docherty hasn't yet reported the theft to the police, but saidhe probably willin case other honour system payment boxes have been targeted.