A Suffolk conservationist has said he might not be able to continue with a wildlife preservation project after thieves stole his agricultural vehicles worth £8,000.
Robert Crozier had been working on creating an orchard and planting woods on a six-and-a-half-acre site at Badley, between Stowmarket and Needham Market, but arrived on Saturday morning to find a tractor, trailer and mower being used for the work had been stolen.
He said: “I am developing a conservation area, which involves planting some trees for woodland and creating an orchard.
“I have got a couple of people who come down, including a beekeeper, but now these thieves have stolen all my equipment and if I don’t get them back, which I probably won’t, I might have to stop the work.
“I am looking for any help I can to get them back,” Mr Crozier said.
He said he used to work in the agricultural chemical industry and had a passion for conservation, but did not act upon it until later on when he had bought the disused agricultural site just off the B1113 between Stowmarket and Needham Market for £35,000 and decided to use it for conservation purposes.
“I worked in the agricultural chemical industry for a number of years, but I have always had an interest in the countryside and conservation.
“Both my parents were farmers so I suppose it is in my blood somewhere, but it was never something that I looked into until I had the opportunity to buy this bit of ground and I did not want the wildlife to be lost under concrete and bricks.”
He arrived on Saturday morning to find the thieves had removed a gate from its hinges and broken into a field shelter in which the equipment was stored at least 200 yards from the roadside.
So far, enquiries he has made via social media to try and trace the machinery have not produced any results, although he said there had been a rumoured sighting of the equipment on Friday at 6pm, which would have been around the time of the theft.
A spokesperson for Suffolk Police confirmed that the force had received a report of a theft at Badley between Friday and Saturday.
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