Garda issue warning after rise in thefts of garden tools

Thefts of gardening and work tools from two locations in the Belturbet area at the weekend are the latest in a growing spate of seasonal break-ins experienced in the county so far this Summer.
Petrol gardening tool were stolen from a property at Drumbarlom, Belturbet at also from shed at a premises in the Bessbrook area of the town overnight between Saturday-Sunday, August 1-2.
It follows a growing number of such break-ins which have been reported across Cavan and surrounding areas over the past two-months, some of which have also occurred around the Erneside town.
Gardai continue to investigate the theft of lawnmowers, strimmer’s, drills and garden tools from a shed in Drumalee, Belturbet over the June Bank Holiday weekend, and later in the month, a break-in at a shed on the on the Old Dublin Road in Killygarry.
These were followed by a series of thefts including a bicycle, a lawnmower, garden strimmer and chainsaw were stolen from a shed at a private house in the Munnery area between June 18-20, and two incidents in the Kilcogy and Butlerbridge areas where hundreds of euro’s worth of tools were stolen.
A further such theft was reported to have occurred in Corran, Derrylane last month where a padlock on the shed door was forced and an angle grinder, two welders and other tools removed, and at Cornafean, where €2,500 euros worth of Bangor Blue roof slates were stolen from a house under construction.
The growing number of thefts involving tools and gardening equipment are not however exclusively located south of the border, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland issued a statement last week appealing for information after garden tools were stolen from a shed on Glasmullagh Road, Derrlylin.
Both the PSNI and An Garda Siochana are appealing for witnesses to the theft and are urging homeowners to be vigilant and report suspicious activity.
They are also asking members of the public who may be approached to buy cheap tools or equipment, which they suspect may be stolen to also report it to the authorities.