Awful person pilfers plants, saddens six-year-old

Confirming that, yes, people are really that horrible, someone twice raided a Capp Street community garden of plants last month, including those belonging to a six-year-old boy.

Monica Bhagwan, who gardens at the Alioto Community Garden at 20th and Capp streets, told me that the little boy’s garden bed was wiped out in both of the thefts last month and that the thief seemed “selective.” Tomato plants, peppers, strawberries, broccoli and kale were stolen from several beds, including Bhagwan’s.

The garden, which has a chain link fence around it and a locked gate, is one of 35 community gardens managed by the Recreation and Park Department where space-challenged San Franciscans can exercise their green thumbs. Alioto Park, which the garden occupies a corner of, has another fence around it and is locked at night.

Bhagwan, who posted a plea on NextDoor for information that might stop the thefts, said it’s unfortunate that the gardeners will now have to consider another barrier to prevent thieves.

“Sadly, the gardening community wanted to have the garden feel accessible to all neighbors by not building a high fence,” she wrote on the site. “(We) will be looking into doing just that.”

[Photo via Monica Bhagwan]