NATOMAS–

20,000 marijuana plants scattered over 150 acres of corn — but what is harder to believe, no one seemed to have noticed.

“Unless you are going through every single row every single day it is hard to find them and it is really hard to see them unless they get taller than these corn plants,” said Michelle Gregory, Public Information Officer for the California Department of Justice. “They ended up locating them during a flyover, but did not realize how many until they got deep into the corn fields where they were.”

The DOJ and the California National Guard, along with other state agencies, spent days removing all the plants.

Meanwhile, neighbors and property owners were shocked by the news.

“Our agents contacted the owner yesterday when we came in and he was not aware of all the plants, which is not entirely uncommon,” said Gregory.

“The workers are not here at night. The owners are not here at night, but they work very hard all day long so it definitely could be anyone in the community walking into the area,” said neighbor Simona Vanecek

Vanecek rides her horses throughout the fields daily and said it is not uncommon to see unknown visitors coming and going. She said the corn is plowed mainly by machines, meaning it is possible the owners and field workers could have overlooked them.

“I am sure they are devastated. They care a lot about their workers and they do a lot out in the community,” said Vanecek