Tim Collins/B次元官网网址 staff

At about 8:30 p.m. on Canada Day, a vandal struck at the livelihood of one of the PeninsulaB次元官网网址檚 best known farms when a white four-door Ford F-150 entered the fields of Longview Farms, entering the farm between Wallace Drive and Central Saanich Road.

The driver then proceeded to do B次元官网网址渄oughnutsB次元官网网址� (spinning the vehicle in circles) in the middle of the field where grower Eric Doublier said they did extensive damage to crops of chard, leeks and onions as well as destroying two irrigation lines.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a very sad thing to come here in the morning and see this kind of thing,B次元官网网址� said Doublier, adding that the farm will, from time to time, have people driving along the farm roads without permission, but that they have never indulged in this kind of stupid, destructive, behaviour before now.

According to Sgt. Greg Johnson of the Central Saanich Police, witnesses say the driver entered the field and did some doughnuts, then left, only to return two more times to do the same thing.B次元官网网址�

He said the police werenB次元官网网址檛 notified of the offense until the next day when the farm manager arrived at the farm. Although some staff witnessed the event from a near-by farm house, they do not speak English and were unable to contact the police at the time.

Johnson explained that, despite the delay in reporting the incident, the police have opened a file on the case and have already made some progress on identifying the driver.

B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 have an accurate assessment of the damage yet, but itB次元官网网址檚 easily well over a thousand dollars. Irrigation lines were run over and destroyed and of course the crops were severely damaged as well,B次元官网网址� said Johnson.

B次元官网网址淲hen the driver is identified and charged, they have a series of charges to look forward to, including the potential of mischief, damage to property, and a series of driving charges. If it can be determined that alcohol was involved, the driver would face those charges as well.B次元官网网址�

Johnson explained that there is a whole range of charges possible, but that the mischief charge alone could see fines of over five thousand dollars and six months in jail.

B次元官网网址淭his is farming country and the crops around here are sacred to the population, itB次元官网网址檚 the farmers who are feeding us for heavenB次元官网网址檚 sake, and itB次元官网网址檚 an important part of the economy so we take this kind of offense very seriously. Luckily, we very rarely see this kind of vandalism take place,B次元官网网址� said Johnson.

Police are inviting anyone with information on the occurrence to contact them at Central Saanich Police, 250-652-4441.