( CNN ) -- For years , stories about the North Pond Hermit circulated around central Maine . According to lore , the shadowy figure would sneak into cabins , camps and houses surrounding North Pond , and steal food , clothing , camping gear and other supplies . But he never took money and never caused damage , according to a 2005 story on the hermit in the Kennebec Journal newspaper . Locals , the newspaper reported , said they found odd caches of goods in the woods . Some speculated the hermit slipped out on wet or dark nights , gliding across the 273-acre pond in a boat to burglarize camps , the newspaper reported . Now state game warden Sgt . Terry Hughes says he caught 47-year-old Christopher Knight last week as he burglarized a camp for disabled people , at once confirming local folklore and ending a longtime nuisance for lakeside residents and property owners . Knight could be responsible for as many as a thousand burglaries , authorities say . `` It 's been a myth , this character , this folklore person who is known as the hermit , who we 've all known about , this unknown suspect who moves around in society and burglarizes camps , '' Hughes said at a news conference Wednesday . `` It 's surreal , he 's surreal , the situation is surreal , '' said Maine State Trooper Diane Perkins-Vance at the news conference . Knight had apparently lived in the woods for 27 years , speaking to another person just once in all that time , according to CNN affiliate WCSH . That person was a hiker he came across on a trail in the 1990s . Investigators say he kept his mind sharp with the books he stole during break-ins , the station reported . Pine Tree Camp was a favorite target , staffers told WCSH . At first , employees thought camping gear that was missing back in the 1980s and 1990s had just been misplaced . After the thefts continued -- including hundreds of dollars worth of food at a time -- camp officials decided a burglar was at work . The burglar would jimmy the locks on sliding glass doors and `` take anything he could find , '' including sliced meat , Parmesan cheese , coffee and camping equipment , Harvey Chesley , the facilities manager of the nearby camp , told WCSH . The camp put security cameras in its kitchen last year , capturing a clear picture of the burglar inside . But nobody recognized him , the Portland television station reported . Authorities captured Knight only after Hughes put up detectors that set off an alarm at his home if anyone broke into the camp , according to WCSH . Knight , who went to high school with Chesley , apologized for the break-ins , Chesley told the station . `` I do believe him , '' Chesley said . Knight is being held on a $ 5,000 cash bond at the Kennebec County Jail . As is custom in Augusta , he had a video arraignment Friday for his first court appearance . His next court date is yet to be determined . CNN 's Michael Pearson contributed to this report .
Locals told stories of a man who stole food and camping gear from lakeside camps . Last week , a game patrol arrested longtime recluse Christopher Knight . Police say Knight , 18 , broke into a camp 's kitchen to steal food .