Watermelon Thief

What evil villain is stealing our produce this time?

Yomiuri Online reported that someone (or something) has been stealing watermelons and squashes in Chikusei, Ibaraki. Last week around 300 squashes and 20 watermelons were stolen from a field. The produce was apparently worth roughly $1500. A victimless crime, right? (Other than those greedy farmers).  The police in Chikusei don't seem to agree. In fact, they'd been warning farmers to be on the look out for watermelon thieves after 700 were stolen from a greenhouse last month. The citizens have remained vigilant. That's why they were able to announce that this time the produce was stolen sometime between 5:00pm on the 18th and 10:00am... on the 24th. So it could be anyone. Perhaps it was the mafia, or aliens, or 2nd graders using their bikes and backpacks to see how many they could steal before that idiot farmer sobered up.