Police: Farmer grew accidental pot crop

ASCHAFFENBURG, Germany, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Police in Germany said an elderly farmer started an accidental marijuana farm when he spread bird seed across his field in the hopes of getting sunflowers.

Authorities said neighbors in the Aschaffenburg area reported the man had some 1,000 10-foot-high marijuana plants growing on his property and narcotics officers visited his home Tuesday and identified the plants for the 74-year-old farmer, The Local.de reported Wednesday.

The farmer told the officers he had wanted to grow sunflowers, but he didn't have any seeds so he spread bird food across his fields and hoped for the best.

"This kind of thing has never happened in the area before," a police spokesman said. "He only wanted a few nice sunflowers."

Police said the cannabis plants, which were not potent enough to be sold as drugs, were destroyed by the farmer on his tractor while officers watched.