SCRANTON, Pa. — Vendors setting up for the day on Monday at the Scranton Co-Op Farmers Market had a little extra work to do. Sometime over the weekend, vandals damaged some of the stands, ripping down signs and attempting to break into locked storage areas.
The Hopkins farms stand was one of those vandalized.
"A few small knives and stuff that we use for cleaning have been taken, but breaking into our tables that we use for storage, ripped signs down, scattered garbage around," Andrew Hopkins said.
The damage has many vendors frustrated, including Mark Hopkins with Hoppy's Produce. He says, unfortunately, this isn't the first time this has happened.
"People in the past have stolen our rubber mats off the ground. And when we came down today, we noticed all of our cash boxes were pushed in, and one of them is broken."
The more the vandals damage, the less produce the vendors have to sell, and that could lead to higher prices.
"To fix this one where they tried to steal the extension cord, I had to go buy a whole new piece of plywood, and that was $55 just for one piece of plywood. So stuff adds up," Mark Hopkins said.
Some stands had already raised prices this year because the farm's costs have increased.
The dry weather this summer has already been a struggle for farmers to provide quality produce. Farmers say these acts of vandalism only add insult to injury.
"We work 18 hours a day to bring fresh stuff to everybody, and people come down and break or break into our stuff," Andrew Hopkins added.
Vendors hope police patrol the area more, and with kids going back to school, the crimes die down.
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