A licenced cannabis plantation in Hellevoetsluis, Zuid Holland, was targeted by thieves for the fourth time in a row at the weekend.

The thieves made off with a few kilos of cannabis plants in a small white van, police said in a short statement.

The break-in took place at 6 am on Sunday when just one person was present at the CanAdelaar production site. No one was injured in the heist, police said.

The plantation, housed in former tomato greenhouses the size of seven football pitches, has been targeted several times before and earlier this month two youngsters aged 16 and 21 were arrested trying to break in.

The company is the country’s biggest licenced cannabis producer and has been growing marijuana as part of a government experiment with legal weed for two years.

Earlier this month, it was ordered to reduce the smell of marijuana wafting across nearby houses from its greenhouses within a week, or risk shutting down.

The court decision followed more than 2,000 complaints from some 300 residents. The smell arises when the greenhouse windows are opened to ventilate, allowing cannabis odour to spread widely through the area.