Amid a sharp rise in vegetable prices, about 60 kilograms of lemons, 40 kilograms of onions and 38 kilograms of garlic were allegedly stolen from a warehouse in Uttar Pradesh’s Shajahanpur on Monday, the Hindustan Times reported.

Umesh Singh Solanki, inspector of the local Tihar police station, confirmed the theft. “We got a call from a grocer complaining about the theft of lemons, onions and garlic,” said Solanki.

Vegetable vendor Manoj Kashyap, a resident of the Bahadurgunj Mohalla area, had informed the police about the incident.

Kashyap filed the complaint after he found the lock of the warehouse broken and some of his belongings missing. He said that the rise in prices of vegetables and lemon could be the reason behind the theft, the Hindustan Times reported.

Price of lemons has soared along with that of green chilli, tomatoes, onions, potatoes and other vegetables following an increase in fuel and transportation costs.

In Delhi, the citrus fruit is priced at Rs 350 per kilogram. In Gujarat, the rates have reached Rs 200 per kilogram, ANI reported.

“We were selling lemon at Rs 60 per kilogram three weeks ago, which has now crossed Rs 200 per kilogram, that too in the peak season, when supply, as well as demand, is generally high,” a wholesale dealer from Gujarat told the news agency.