MORGAN TOWNSHIP | A man who works at a farm southeast of Valparaiso called police Thursday afternoon to report that someone killed the farm's onion crop.

Beto Ramirez, who works for Olthoff Farms, told police thousands of dollars worth of onions were killed in the fields south of 596 E. County Road 550 South in Morgan Township. Bill Olthoff, owner of Olthoff Farms, said the onion seed alone was worth $10,000 and the crop was worth much more.

Olthoff told The Times that someone placed the plant-killing chemical Roundup in the tank used to spray the crops while the tank was nearby at David Rietveld's warehouse. Olthoff said the crops were sprayed a few weeks ago, then died.

Olthoff said he hasn't had any other crimes like this one. Olthoff Farms, which is based out of Bourbonnais, Ill., is offering a $250 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the responsible person or people.

Police reports don't indicate why someone would want to kill the crops. No suspects were listed, but the crime is under investigation.

Porter County police Maj. Steve Lawrence said police occasionally receive reports of vehicles damaging crops, but he hasn't heard of any other incidents of chemicals being used to kill crops. In addition, some crops are Roundup ready, meaning any Roundup that is sprayed will kill the weeds, not the crop.

Thursday's vandalism wasn't the first this summer in Morgan Township. On July 14, an arsonist destroyed two portable toilets and the trailer they were on. The fire, which caused $3,300 damage, occurred in the area of County Road 675 East and County Road 150 South. Police said the portable toilets were for use by people working in the farm field in that location. The victim in that case was Remington Seeds.

Anyone with information about the damage to the onion crop is asked to call Porter County police at (219) 477-3000.