Northern Territory shopper chucks pot plants out the front of a Woolworths  

Customers in a Northern Territory shopping centre got a lot more than they bargained for when a man suddenly started smashing pot plants to the ground.

The shocking incident, which happened outside a Woolworths in Darwin, was caught on camera and posted to the ‘straya’ section of the Reddit website on Monday.

Even more shocking was that no on tried to physically stop him – they either ignored what was happening or just moved away. 

The video opened with the man throwing a pot plant to the ground – already strewn with other broken pots – and shouting abuse, while shoppers quickly moved out of harm’s way.

There were already at least three other smashed pots, earth and plants on the shopping centre floor.  

While some people told the man to stop, no one tried to intervene, so he did it again.

The man picked up yet another potted plant and threw it violently to the ground as those who had tried to stop him walked away, having given up. 

A tradie with a child in his arms is seen casually walking out of the shop and away from the ruckus as if this is not an unusual sight in Darwin. 

A man on a scooter negotiated his way through the mess on the ground, but didn’t seem in any particular hurry to get away from the chaos around him. 

Finally, a store security man showed up and the pot smasher slowly headed away.

He was not, as seemed at first, heading for the exit, though.

The vandal was just heading to where more pot plants were kept by a window facing the street. 

At that point the security guard caught up with him and forced the man out of the shopping centre, seemingly not bothering to call the police about what happened.  

The tradie proved popular in comments on the video, with one saying ‘As a non-Australian citizen I’m delighted to see the classic tradie strolling by in the high vis with short cargo shorts and work boots.’

Finally, a store security man showed up and the pot smasher was escorted to the door (pictured)

Another compared the situation to another Northern Territory town, saying ‘That’s nothing compared to whats going on in the Alice, I’m hearing.’

One poster also compared it to the city of Cairns in far north Queensland.

‘This sort of thing and much worse happens daily in Cairns, and no one ever says or does a thing. 

‘As long as dogma continues to prevail over common sense, this is what we get,’ they said. 

Another poster said what the video showed is now common in the territory.

‘This is a normal Occurrence in the NT,’ they said. ‘It’s insane. 

‘The place was a gem in the middle of the outback until law and order was thrown away. Place is a war zone now.’