Originally Posted by alhedges

This is almost certainly wrong. If you lock a bike on a tree in my yard, I certainly have the right to remove it. Or even to hire someone else to remove it. If you lock a bike to some part of whole food's property where they have prohibited bike parking, they have every right in the world (or at least in the US) to remove it. With the important proviso that they have to have clearly indicated that bike parking in the specific location is prohibited - which would seem to be the case in this situation.