The pistachios that need a police guard

Pistachios are under police guard in Sicily as thieves target the expensive seed before for their harvest in September.

Also called "Sicily's green gold"— one kilogramme (2.2lb) costs as much as £13.45 — the BBC reported that up to 12 officers would be patrolling at night and six were going to patrol in the daytime. If needed they would also launch a police helicopter.

The thieves operate at night, trying to make off as many pistachios as they can when it is dark and quiet. Nicolo Morandi, a police captain told the BBC, "we will operate a number of precautionary operations.”

The prized pistachios are grown across some 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) on the slopes of Etna, an active volcano located by the town of Bronte and account for just 1% of global production of the crop.

The farmers charge a premium because the seeds keep their bright green colour for longer and taste better, Enrico Cimbali, president of the local trade organisation Consorzio di Tutela, said to the BBC. Crops are also only produced every other year.

The price of the pistachios is more than double than that of the world's two giant producers - the US and Iran.

There were 300kg of Bronte pistachios stolen during 2009 prompting the mayor to ask the police to do more to protect the crop.

"Honest citizens welcome this service, because harvest time is a very delicate moment for our community," said pistachio farmer Mario Prestianni.

Pistachios are one of the oldest flowering nut trees, according to Self.com, and are the original prehistoric snack having been eaten by humans around 9,000 years.

Criminals have targeted agricultural products before and in 2012 there was the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, a months-long robbery where almost 540,000 gallons of maple syrup, valued at a massive $20.1 million (around £10.8 million), was stolen from a storage facility in Quebec.

Priced at just under $2,000 per barrel, thieves have seen the Canadian sugary sweet as a lucrative market to take advantage of. But for thieves, eventually 26 of them were arrested.

Culture Trip reported that maple syrup production in Quebec accounts for 75 per cent of the global flow of maple syrup, and the industry makes in excess of $578.4 million in annual sales.