Police in a helicopter that was providing aerial security for the Olympic Torch Relay on Crete spotted a small cannabis plantation at the bottom of a ravine in the northeast of the island and reported it to colleagues on the ground, who uprooted 607 trees, police said yesterday.

The cannabis was spotted by the police helicopter on Sunday between the villages of Malia and Krasi, when the Olympic Flame was being carried between Ierapetra and Aghia Galini, where it spent the night. Narcotics squad officers were dispatched to the scene and they destroyed the plantation. The report did not say whether anyone had been arrested. Police frequently find cannabis plantations on mountainous Crete where deep ravines and the mild climate allow the plants to grow far from prying eyes — until police use helicopters to spot the plants.