Urban tomato thief

A Wererabbit.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312004/
From the claymation Wallace and Gromit

We put garden netting over our tomato plants and have had good luck keeping the squirrels out.

Have you tried bunny/deer repellant? It stinks but works for my garden. I just put it around my plants not directly on them and it's still effective

In Brooklyn the squirrels go wild for our tomatoes. I've seen one demolish a large green tomato in under two minutes -- right in front of my face! The nerve. We've tried netting, but I find it really annoying/unattractive. I'm going to try the the crushed red pepper trick!

We had the same problem and we lived on the 3rd floor. The Chicago squirrels (or raccoons) were deterred by crushed red pepper (I got the huge bottle from Costco and put it basically everywhere -- the leaves, the soil, the deck) and (no commentary please) sachets filled with our dog's fur at the base of the pots. We had a German Shepherd (lots of shed) and I used cheesecloth to make the sachets. I know it sounds gross but the fur wasn't near the actual tomatoes and it worked like a charm. I had a friend say mothballs worked -- they didn't for us.

I could be raccoons or squirrels or both. We have both types of critters and I see the squirrels sitting on fences eating tomatoes. Raccoons raid the garden at night, squirrels are brazen and do it in the daylight.

I'm guessing a raccoon. That's what we've got, and they love tomatoes. :(

So, as updated information, our gate was slightly open but it didn't look like a person did it (things in front of the gate hadn't been moved, in any case, we're getting a lock). Our yard doesn't face the street, but the yard of hte person who has a house on the next stret over (our whole block is like this).

Rats. Bait traps with tomatoes.