Rare Italian apple trees stolen from Marden farm

A FARMER is fuming after 330 extremely rare apple trees were stolen from his orchard.

Kenneth Jenner, 72, woke up on Thursday morning to find £2,000 worth of rare Italian Ruben apple trees had been taken from his farm in Marden.

He said: "I'm so angry about this. We'd only planted them in March and in all likelihood, they're no use to anyone now.

"Whoever stole them must have come in with a lorry and ripped them up by their little fibrous roots. They were only three to four-foot tall. We have lost a whole year at that end of the orchard. It's such a strange thing to do.

"If we got them back now, we probably wouldn't be able to use them as they wouldn't re-establish themselves in the ground."

Mr Jenner, who runs Little Sheephurst Farm in Sheephurst Lane, with wife Gaye, is the third generation of his family to work the land.

He added: "Most of the ones they took were a variety called Rubens, which would stand out a mile if someone tried to sell them.

"My son Nigel works as a researcher and we test some of the new varieties here. The ones taken are Italian and no one else in England has them."

Apples from the trees were due to be sold to supermarkets.

Kent Police said the theft happened between 7pm on June 3, and 10.30am the following morning.

A spokesman said: "A vehicle would have been needed to transport the trees, which had been imported from Italy and were being grown exclusively by Mid Kent Growers.

"Anyone offered the trees or who has more information should contact police by calling 01795 419182 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."