Some 1,000 grapevines uprooted in Dolev by unknown vandals. Police, IDF investigating

Some 1,000 grapevine plants were uprooted Saturday, in a vineyard located in Dolev, a community in Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, in the West Bank.

The fence surrounding the vineyard and its irrigation system were also vandalized.

The vines were part of the Ahiya Farm, which is the biggest farm in the West Bank. The break-in was discovered during a routing check of the vineyard´s new plots on Sunday.

The property managers alerted the police and the IDF and an investigation has been launched. The damage is estimated at then of thousands of shekels.

It is still unknown what the motive for the act was, but the settlers pointed the finger at the local Arabs: "It´s time for the defense establishment to open its eyes and protect the safety and wellbeing of the Jewish farmers," Itzik Shadmi, head of the Binyamin Residents´ Council, said.

"As those who claim to enforce the law, especially when it comes to alleged illegal construction by Jews, we demand that the rule of law be imposed on hooligans and Arab terrorists, as well," he added. (Copyright 2012 © Yedioth Internet 04/16/12)