An investigation is underway after some 4 million bees were slaughtered and their hives were vandalized in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ. Scientists had reported the incident to security forces on Thursday after they found out the beehives stretching across a large area and they were working on a project scattered away.

Gendarmerie forces examined the scene, seeking fingerprints inside the 10-acre enclosure run by Namık Kemal University in a rural area of Şarköy district. Bees were part of a joint project by the university and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry seeking to improve honey quality and quality of apitherapy products derived from the bees.

Professor Mustafa Necati Muz, a coordinator of the project carried out since 2015, told reporters on Thursday that the incident was a blow to their work seeking to cut off country’s dependence on imports for quality apitherapy products. "We had bees donated by farmers in Tekirdağ, Kırklareli and Edirne here, picked among the best of their species. We were working on extracting apitherapy substances here which would be organic and produced without chemical, pesticide use. The project was also part of a program to develop medicine for bees against viruses affecting bees. We had developed pure bee breeds, genetically superior to others and produce higher amount of honey," he said.

Muz pointed out that it was apparently a theft of "genetic information." He vowed to resume the project that would "contribute our country’s economy." In an interview with Anadolu Agency (AA) on Friday, Muz downplayed the allegations of lack of security paved the way for incident. He said the area was enclosed with fences and was not easily accessible. "This is at the highest point of the region, at Ganos mountain and is only accessible with all-terrain vehicles. It is in a location secluded from human activities and swarming with rattlesnakes," he said.

Professor Özen Banu Özdaş from Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Veterinary Sciences said "a strategic project was destroyed." Özdaş told AA that some people "in Turkey or abroad were apparently disturbed by the project which would produce bees resistant to diseases and producing high quality honey." "This might be the work of a professional crew," Özdaş added.