Lavender by the Bay sign stolen, other break-ins reported in Greenport
The large wooden sign that marked the entrance to Lavender by the Bay in East Marion was stolen overnight Thursday, according to its owners.
Owners Serge and Susan Rozenbaum arrived at the 17-acre lavender field before it opened at 9 a.m. Friday to discover the 6-by-3 foot solid wood sign missing. Their son, Lavender by the Bay vice president Chanan Rozenbaum, said security footage showed two people walking off with the sign around midnight. He said the people were heading east.
“They went as far as to unscrew the bolts,” Chanan said. “It is shocking.”
The Rozenbaums erected the sign 15 years ago when Lavender by the Bay established its Main Road farm stand. It served as a welcome to the thousands who the visit the family-run farm each summer when the purple flowers are in bloom.
“I hope it shows up,” Chanan said. “It is a large sign, you can’t just throw it in the garbage, someone has to have it.”
Southold Town Police were notified of the incident Friday morning. Detectives are looking into the possibility of this incident being connected to similar a crime committed in July when a sign was cut down and stolen. The sign, which welcomed visitors to Nassau Point, was stolen about 14 hours after it went up. Last October, a residential sign in Orient for the Orient by the Sea neighborhood was also stolen.
The Rozenbaums are the latest business owners to report criminal activity at their businesses this week. A couple of Greenport business owners took to social media to address break-ins at their storefronts.
Sharon Sailor, owner of Front Street Station in Greenport — located roughly three miles away from Lavender by the Bay — also reported her business was broken into and wrote in a Facebook post Thursday night: “Want to let everyone know that Front Street Station was robbed at approximately 1 a.m. on Thursday …”
“We work hard, put in long hours and sacrifice a lot of life’s little nuances to do what we love, and to be violated monetarily and emotionally in this way sucks,” Ms. Sailor wrote.
The Parapsychology Foundation on Front Street was also broken into, according to Lisette Coly, who maintains its library. Ms. Coly wrote in a Wednesday morning Facebook post, “The Parapsychology Library I maintain on Front Street was broken into last night… Thankfully, 12,000 books held little interest…”
Ms. Sailor and The Parapsychology Foundation did not immediately return calls for comment.
Southold Town Police believe the two incidents are related and said no other break-ins have been reported in the area in recent days.
Photo caption: The Lavender by the Bay sign is missing. (Lavender by the Bay courtesy photo)
