Sweet potato thieves in the hamlet

Returned home after two weeks of holidaying in Malaysia...
We knew from the news that it had not rained at our home throughout this time...
The hot temperatures and the rainless days...
My missus was most concerned that our pond would be all dried up and our goldfishes, all dead...
So, the first thing we did upon opening the gate was to rush to the pond...
The pond was dried, but luckily not completely...
In the remaining little water, our goldfishes were there, alive...

The next thing to check was the potager...
Was very surprised to see my sweet potatoes being dug up...
I had planted three varieties of sweet potatoes...
Altogether, there were 42 plants...
Initially, I thought it was the work of wild boars...
But after some investigation, we could not find any foot marks of the boar...
And, the dug-out areas were just too 'neat'...
Boars would have been more 'destructive'...

The thief or thieves took almost all of the sweet potatoes...
There are about three or four plants that were untouched...

Japanese society is supposed quite 'safe' and free from such things...
Oh well, another lesson learnt... was really looking forward to harvesting them... sigh...
Next season, we should perhaps harvest the potatoes before we leave for our summer vacation...