> Others loaded up to 60 tons at a time.

I have a feeling these are the ones that are the problem rather than folk with a hand basket.

Saw this similar quote:

>“One man came and said he took two bags because he went crazy when he saw the crowd,” Piotr said. “He apologized, and everything was fine. But there are also those who took dozens of tons.”

Literally always it's a few bad apples ruining the bunch. If a bunch of people came and took some for personal use, it would've been fine. I mean, still a problem, but the farmer would probably still have some damn crop left to sell or replant or whatever you'd do with those potatoes for the best recovery at that point.

If they thought the potatoes would rot unless they were all taken it makes perfect sense. This wasn't a "have a potato on us and have a good day :)" situation.