Quote:Three decades of sylvan solitude haven't done any harm to Christopher Knight's mojo. The North Pond Hermit has already received one marriage proposal since his arrest for robbery earlier this month.

Despite spending 27 years in the woods of Maine with virtually no contact with other people, he's had plenty trying to get close to him since bursting onto the headlines, officials said.

The offers Knight has received from total strangers have prompted authorities to hike his bail by 5,000 per cent, out of fears unscrupulous characters may try to exploit him.

Someone called the jail where he's being held with a marriage proposal while a man Knight didn't know showed up on Saturday night offering to pay his $5,000 bail, The Kennebec Journal reported.

Worried Knight could be the target of someone looking to capitalise on his notoriety, authorities charged him with two additional counts of burglary and theft and increased his bail to $250,000.

Maine State Trooper Diane Perkins-Vance told the Journal: 'My job is to ensure he does appear in court. But there's a lot of people out there trying to exploit him.'

District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said the big bail increase is unusual, but then this is an unusual case.

'The first concern is he might be a flight risk,' she said. 'The second concern is the group of people who are interested in posting bail for Mr Knight who are not from our state and not members of his family.

'I will remain concerned for Mr Knight until he has an attorney helping him to navigate what is a new world to him.'

Three decades of sylvan solitude haven't done any harm to Christopher Knight's mojo. The North Pond Hermit has already received one marriage proposal since his arrest for robbery earlier this month.

Despite spending 27 years in the woods of Maine with virtually no contact with other people, he's had plenty trying to get close to him since bursting onto the headlines, officials said.

The offers Knight has received from total strangers have prompted authorities to hike his bail by 5,000 per cent, out of fears unscrupulous characters may try to exploit him.

Someone called the jail where he's being held with a marriage proposal while a man Knight didn't know showed up on Saturday night offering to pay his $5,000 bail, The Kennebec Journal reported.

Worried Knight could be the target of someone looking to capitalise on his notoriety, authorities charged him with two additional counts of burglary and theft and increased his bail to $250,000.

Maine State Trooper Diane Perkins-Vance told the Journal: 'My job is to ensure he does appear in court. But there's a lot of people out there trying to exploit him.'

District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said the big bail increase is unusual, but then this is an unusual case.

'The first concern is he might be a flight risk,' she said. 'The second concern is the group of people who are interested in posting bail for Mr Knight who are not from our state and not members of his family.