Rich pickings are to be had at cherry farms in Tendo, Yamagata Prefecture, where a single cherry of a premium brand that took more than 20 years to develop can sell for as much as 1,000 yen ($7). That, no doubt, was what went through the minds of thieves who made off with around 5 kilograms of Yamagata Beniou, a new brand of cherry that was due to make its full-scale "debut" this year. The haul had a market price of around 100,000 yen, police said. Announcing the theft June 19, prefectural police said it was the first confirmed case this year involving Yamagata Beniou, which grow to the size of a 500-yen coin. The coin has a diameter of 2.65 centimeters. But it was by no means the only theft. Earlier this month, around 4 kilograms of Sato Nishiki, a leading cherry brand, were stolen from a farm in Tendo. In that instance, the market price of the stolen Sato Nishiki was around 12,000 yen. "It is unforgivable that produce farmers take time and effort to create is being targeted," said a prefectural official involved in promoting the area as a "gardening powerhouse."