FOLLOWING damages to stock during the Easter weekend, leading to 400kg of pomegranate destroyed, the community have rallied around Grapes on Swan in support.

Grapes on Swan owner Dennis Kljuce told ABC News’ Geraldine Mellet that the pick-your-own event had to be cut short due to the amount of fruit damage suffered.

The business sold fruit other than the grapes which the business was named after and Mr Kljuce said families were picking unripe fruit and discarding it in the vineyard, or allowing their children to go unsupervised on premises.

“By the end of the day, I had a look around and couldn’t believe that 300kg to 400kg were wasted,” he said on the program.

“I did catch some adults, also kids, but mainly kids not being policed by parents so they were letting them run wild… and they’re picking fruit that is not ripe

“I don’t know what’s happened to be honest and we get it even with our grapes.”

Mr Kljuce said he’d been running pick-your-own events for about eight years and that the sultanas were also devastated earlier in the year.

“We don’t mind people sampling fruit, you’ve got to taste it,” he said.

“But people think because we’re not a supermarket, they can do whatever they want basically.

“The property is 12 acres and the rows are 250m long, you could never (install) CCTV.

“At the end of the day, this is our livelihoods and this is what we do for a living.

“Just respect the property and we only get one chance a year between the birds, the diseases and the rain, and let alone now with the crisis of diesel.”

Grapes on Swan also took to Facebook to share the news that due to the damages, the rest of the crops were to be sold pre-picked.

“Moving forward, these will be pre-picked by us and available to purchase at our tent,” they said.

“We had a large percentage of our crop destroyed by people picking pomegranates and then throwing them on the floor.

“We also had people sitting and consuming these behind our large trees, where they thought they couldn’t be seen.

“Additionally, we had people picking mandarins and limes which weren’t even ready yet and throwing them on the ground.

“Due to this and the extreme loss, both financially and the clean-up we’ve now been left with, pick-your-own pomegranates will not be happening again.”

A day after the message went live on social media, Grapes on Swan provided an update.

“Thank you to the overwhelming support received by our beautiful community since yesterday’s post,” they said.

“We have now sold out of what was left of our pomegranates, so we will be closed for the remainder of the Easter long weekend.”

Grapes on Swan has been operating as a family-run vineyard in Henley Brook for more than 30 years.

The community were quick to call out the behaviour and share their sympathy with the family business.

“How terribly sad that people should abuse your trust so blatantly,” one commentor said.

“I would have thought to pick your own fruit would be a privilege, not a right.

“So disappointing when a few ruins something for others,” another said.

Mr Kljuce said the destroyed stock was a loss and the pomegranates and fruit in the pictures shared to social media were used as feed for livestock and chickens.