POLICE are urging farmers not to leave their keys in the ignition after two vehicles were allegedly stolen from neighbouring Violet Town farms in a 48-hour period.
Violet Town’s Keith Dean said he noticed his Honda TRX350 quad bike was missing on the morning of Thursday October 18.
According to Violet Town Police, a key was left in the ignition overnight.
Mr Dean said his home security footage showed an individual was dropped off between 1am and 4am on Thursday morning, and spent over an hour on his property (out of the camera’s view), before a vehicle returned to collect the alleged thief and quad bike.
Mr Dean discovered damage to another of his vehicles after reviewing the footage.
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On Saturday, he got a phone call to say the bike had been found dumped on the side of a local road.
“I just can't see a reason why anyone would go to the trouble of what they've done, to then end up with nothing,” Mr Dean said.
Violet Town Police officer-in-charge Ian Hamill said leaving keys in the ignition is “just a habit, it's an old habit”.
“We want people to update their thinking and their habits,” Constable Hamill said.
“As much as we live in a beautiful area, the crooks are starting to come into our area and it's quite easy to steal a car or a motorbike… if we don't lock up after ourselves.
“We need people to come into the 21st century… otherwise, it's just easy pickings for the thief.”
Just two days later, on Saturday morning, Mr Dean’s neighbour, Andrew Walter, woke up to discover his treasured, blue-grey 2007 Holden Rodeo ute was missing from his farm.
The keys had been left in the ignition.
Police said the two incidents are not being investigated in connection with each other.
Mr Walter said it appeared a second vehicle was used in the theft, indicated by tyre tracks left at his property.
“Like most farmers, [I] left my keys in the ute,” he said.
“In hindsight, I should have taken the keys out and all that sort of stuff, but I don't think too many people on farms do.”
The latest Crime Statistic Agency data shows farm crime has more than doubled in the Strathbogie Shire over the past year, from 17 incidents to 36 incidents.
Euroa Police Leading Senior Constable Eva Christou, who attended the scene at Mr Walter’s farm, said while she had not seen these statistics, she believed farm crime had risen in other areas “because it’s opportunistic”.
“Unfortunately, farmers leave things unlocked – sheds, they leave tools around, they leave vehicles around and keys in them,” she said.
“If there's any message to get out to the public, it is, actually lock your possessions.”
Constable Hamill, the Violet Town officer, urged caution in interpreting crime statistics, as spikes are exaggerated due to the low number of thefts in small country areas.
“If I have one here, my crime goes up 100 percent,” he said.
“If they have one down in Melbourne, it'll probably go up by 0.01 of a percent.
“So, that's why I say the [statistics] are a little bit false as such.
“I've been here for 16, 17 months now and we've had one car stolen.
“I've got two now, two in the weekend, so I've now got a 200 percent spike.”
