HEBRON, January 15, 2010 (WAFA)- Palestinians discovered Thursday afternoon that a family owned olive grove in Khoruba valley near the West Bank city of Hebron had been recently destroyed.

Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove said in a press release: Twenty mature olive trees were broken at their trunks.  The family believes that Jewish settlers from the Ma’on settlement and Havot Ma’on outpost are responsible for the vandalism.

A Palestinian farmer informed internationals who documented the destruction that this was the fifth time since 1997 that settlers have destroyed the olive trees in this grove.  He also stated that the trees would not be able to bear olives for at least three years.

This most recent attack on Palestinian agriculture follows a month of Israeli settler violence and harassment aimed at preventing Palestinian farmers from plowing their fields and thus earning their livelihoods.