This news is just nuts

Three women in their 30s were booked for picking gingko nuts from trees on public roads, police said Monday.

They said collecting already-fallen gingko nuts from the streets is permissible but picking them from the trees on the sides of roads constitutes theft. The women tried to pick the nuts by shaking the trees using poles.

Yeondeungpo Police Station said 39-year-old Kim and two others collected about 20 kilograms of gingko nuts from streets in the region on Sept. 26.

Police said regional district officials had warned them against picking the nuts from the trees, but they continued to do so. The regional district office has ownership of the trees.

“Gingko nuts are worth 50,000-60,000 won ($42-52) per kilogram on the market and could obviously be counted as a product. The offenders were not simply picking up things from the floor but were obviously stealing and should be punished,” a police officer said.

Who was the owner of the trees? If the nuts were on the ground, are they then considered on community or public property and that’s why it isn’t theft?

So what’s the penalty for this crime? A fine, banishment to North Korea, or having to scream ‘Dokdo belongs to Japan’ in a crowded Seoul subway station?

Hat tip- Marmot’s Hole

Update- I really shouldn’t blog on my first cup of coffee.