I was brought up in the country in England & it was not uncommon for me to go 'scrumping' for all sorts of fruit - especially in the school holidays. Indeed the 'church' school I went to as an infant used to organise the collection of wild 'rose hips' by all its pupils. These were sold onto a company that manufactured 'rose hip syrup' that was suppose to be full of vitamin C & especially good for babies; although I think todays' doctors would probably bulk at the volume of sugar that was added to make it palatable.
The money collected was used by the school to provide everyday essentials for teaching. This rapidly changed over my childhood. Farmers became rabid over trespass, parents became worried about unsupervised children roaming the countryside, doctors started expressing concerns about the lead content in hedgerow fruits. So I found this BBC item interesting & took my thoughts back. It seems that removing fruit for personal consumption is possibly not an illegal act...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11584156
