A woman was caught on camera stealing all the avocados from an Eskview honesty box stall. Video / Third Eye / Facebook
Napier's mayor says she hopes a widely shared Facebook video that shows a woman taking armloads of avocados from a roadside stall in Eskview doesn't spell the end of the honesty box tradition.
The man whose stall was raided, Adrian Taylor, said losing the avocados was almost the "last straw"for the honesty box, which loses produce "regularly".
"You just get sick of it after a while and this isn't the only time, it is almost a daily thing.
"Sometimes it's a few avocados being taken here and there, but the odd time we get someone that just raids the lot," Taylor said.
"My mate actually saw her pull up to the box as he was driving past on Sunday night, but it wasn't until the next morning that we saw she had raided the lot."
Ironically, Taylor owns security camera company Third Eye, an inconvenience for those who take from the box outside his home.
He spotted the woman on his CCTV security cameras and posted the video straight away on his company Facebook page, where it has had more than 15,000 views.
Taylor hasn't reported the incident to police - he says they already have enough on their plate, given how often thieves have targeted the honesty box in its six years of existence.
"It's just relentless, we have upgraded the stall over the years because the money box would always get raided and we have had to install a tube so the money goes into a secure box in the ground," Taylor said.
"We still get people who come and they either take the fruit or they try to get into the money box, it's ridiculous."
She was seen making several trips to and from her car stealing the produce. Photo / Third Eye / Facebook
Over the years he has thought about just shutting it and ended up doing so three weeks prior to the latest raid.
"Only three weeks ago we had the same thing happen and that for us was really the final straw, we ended up packing it all up and shutting it down," Taylor said.
"The only reason we opened again was because the guy who stole the avos ended up coming back and apologising and paying for the produce he took.
"It sort of made us think 'maybe there's hope out there', but after it continues to happen it gets annoying."
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise said she had used the honesty box in the past and did not want it to disappear because of bad apples.
"It would be a shame to see this New Zealand tradition fade away and I hope that community members continue to put out their honesty boxes and don't allow the actions of a few to spoil this."
Taylor is grateful for the response the video has generated.
"It just goes to show there are still good people out there."
