Small maple syrup jug with non-functional loop handle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ANNA, Ill. (AP) – A southern Illinois family is finding their homemade maple syrup operation anything but sweet after investigators swarmed their property, mistaking their sap collection for a meth lab.

Laura Benson tells KFVS-TV that drug agents showed up at her home near Anna on Wednesday morning saying they fielded a report that a meth-making operation was on the Union County property.

When investigators pointed to buckets near some trees, 49-year-old Benson says she quickly explained the containers were collecting sap for the family’s production of syrup.

The law enforcers quickly moved on, taking with them some homemade syrup the Bensons gave them.

Benson thanks her neighbors for being alert and notifying police, even if it was a misunderstanding. She’s extending an open invitation to those locals to come by for pancakes.

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Information from: KFVS-TV, http://www.kfvs12.com

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.