THOUSANDS of vegetables have been stolen in a 'planned' raid at one of Glasgow's most famous greenspaces.

Staff at Pollok Park's vegetable garden were horrified to discover their entire winter harvest had been stolen when they arrived for work on Monday.

Due to the huge volume of crops - which include 1000 carrots, 200 leeks, 200 swedes and 80 cabbages - employees are positive the raid must have been premeditated.

Also included in the haul were onions, celeriac, beetroot and turnips.

After reporting the incident to the police, staff carried out their own detective work and followed the trail of debris from the decimated garden to the Pollok House car park, where they suspect the thieves loaded a vehicle and drove off.

They also uncovered numerous unfamiliar footprints in the soil, which didn't match the standard steel-toe cap boots worn by the grounds staff at the site.

Garden supervisor Stevie Burns said the theft was on the "largest scale" he had ever seen, and is convinced it was pre-meditated.

He told the Evening Times: "Not just one person could have done this.

"This was not random. It is too late in the year to plant anything new, it was getting time to crop.

"That's why they have targeted us at this point - they must have known the crop was ready.

"They also must have had transport for this as we are a mile from any gate to get out of here.

"We followed the trail of detritus to Pollok House car park and they've obviously taken them along there and driven off."

The crops are used mainly at Pollok House, for catering, however extra food is given to church groups and charities to benefit local people who may not be able to afford fresh vegetables.

As it is now too late in the year to plant any more seeds, Stevie said many people will be losing out.

He said: "We're all so shocked. I have never seen anything like this here, and I've been working here for a long, long time.

"Occasionally we would get a cabbage stolen or something, but fair enough. We wouldn't encourage it but if someone is hungry and they need it, then we can understand.

"This isn't for someone's dinner though. One person cannot eat all of this."

"It's a real disappointment for our gardener, Paul Hilton, and everyone else who works here.

"Paul has made such an effort and put loads of work in to these crops, and it has all been completely destroyed.

"It is all his hard work, for nothing."

Work sowing the seeds at the site started in March, with gardening staff carefully tending to the vegetables for the last six months before they were ready to be harvested.

Stevie said he is not expecting to be able to grow anything else now until next Spring, as the colder weather is setting in..

A police spokeswoman confirmed officers had received a report of the incident and were now investigating.

She said: “We have received a report of a vandalism of the vegetable plot at Pollok House.

“We were told around 9.15am on Monday morning, and enquiries are ongoing into the incident.”