TEMPLE, Texas — The Yard - Food Truck Plaza is one of the newest and most exciting additions to historic Downtown Temple, but business hasn't been the easiest for the food truck owners.
Owners say for the past few months, they have been experiencing theft, ranging from generators to power cords. The power cords are the main source for power across their trucks.
Lama Mama owner Lama Marroquin has experienced theft from her food truck twice since she began parking at the plaza over a year ago and is fed up with losing money because of it.
"My food truck was broken into again this past Friday," Marroquin explained. "This time, the fridge and freezer were cleaned out of meat, cheese, and bread. Not just one or two meals but enough for close to 40 plates of food."
She's not the only person dealing with this theft issue either.
"I have dealt with it too," Chock Full of Cheese food truck owner Jenny Morales said. "One truck got completely broken into and somebody tried to take their hitch lock off another truck and tried to take off with their trailers. We need some more security down here."
The plaza is located at 212 S Main St. in Downtown Temple just feet away from the police department.
Marroquin reached out to Temple Police and filed a report about her recent issue. It is now an active investigation.
While the investigation is under way, food truck owners think setting up security cameras could be a great start in finding out who stealing from their trucks and causing damage.
"I have tried emailing the Temple mayor. I have gotten in contact with a reply saying he's passed it on to the city advisor. I haven't heard anything back yet, so hopefully we'll hear something soon," Morales shared.
They also want Temple police to help even more with patrolling the area in the day and at night when possible.
"If they just make a habit to drive down this red brick road on their destination to wherever they're going, that's gonna make a huge difference." Marroquin said.
They want people to continue to support local businesses and don't want these theft to hinder the growth of their food trucks.
"This is our place of business, this is our livelihood," Marroquin said. "We just want to keep doing what we love as safely as possible."
The community can also help by saying something when they see anything suspicious in the area.