'Are they just out to have a feast?': Berry farm owner perplexed by theft

You'd be hard pressed to find the bright side in a theft of goods destined for a school program for children, but Phil Thornley has seen how hundreds of dollars worth of berries being stolen from his farm in central Newfoundland has turned into a positive.

Campbellton Berry Farm owner Phil Thornley discovered the caper Monday​, when he went to the freezer to get berries for the Kids Eat Smart school program.

"I came in through the back door and looked and there was a set of shelves knocked over, and a chair was knocked over and I thought, 'Geez, what's happened here?'" Thornley told Central Morning.

Frozen strawberries, black currants, raspberries and bakeapples valued at $700 were taken.

"You feel attacked, then you feel disappointed like the things that you expect are not happening and now you've got to scramble and make up the orders," he said

"What do they do? They have to keep them frozen. Are they just out to have a feast or are they selling them for cash for other purposes?"

However, the outpouring of support from the community trumped the crime, according to Thornley.

"You quickly start thinking, ya know, I've been here for nearly 40 years and it's the first time this has happened," he said.

"Then you get calls from people in the community, or messages on Facebook sympathizing — there's an enormous amount of comfort in that."

Thornley said he won't overreact to the break-in, but does intend on adding surveillance cameras.

Some of the small fruit stolen in the crime has been recovered.

As for the frozen berry thieves, Thornley said the RCMP notified him they have persons of interest in the case