Homeowners in rural areas are being warned to be on their guard after £500 worth of kerosene was stolen from a property in Aberdeenshire.
Thieves targeted a rural property near Alford, extracting heating fuel from a tank within the garden.
The haul is estimated worth to be around £500. The incident happened between December 11 and 21.
North-east division crime reduction officer Constable Urquhart said: “Heating oil tanks have the potential to store thousands of pounds worth of fuel, and are often located in remote areas – this can make them an attractive target for thieves.
“With spiralling oil and gas costs, we expect to see an increase in this type of crime. Being a victim of heating oil theft is a costly, inconvenient and upsetting experience.
“Thieves will usually decant, syphon or pump oil from your tank into other containers to steal heating oil. Thieves might use this oil themselves or sell it on.”
Fuel theft on the rise
Thefts of this nature have been on the rise across Aberdeenshire this year following a considerable increase in energy bills.
Around 3,000 litres were stolen from Banff, Buckie, Fintray, Johnshaven, Laurencekirk, Turriff and St Cyrus over the course of several weeks between January and March.
In August, around £4,000 worth of kerosene was stolen from a Mearns farm.
Thieves made off with 5,000 litres of kerosene, which is widely used by rural properties as a source of fuel.
Officers are urging rural households to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious.
Anyone with information can contact the police on 101 or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting incident number 1227 of December 21.
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