Gas water heating units are being stolen from the sides of Tauranga homes in what looks like targeted raids by a gang of thieves.
One of the victims, Anna Andrews of Bayfair Estate, called her plumber after she turned on a hot water tap and nothing happened.
The plumber found the source of the problem - the gas-fired water heating unit had been removed from the side of her house on Matapihi Rd.
"I was mortified. Who on earth would want to steal my hot water heater, but then I found out what they were worth," she said.
The theft of her four-year-old unit took place on August 6. She then discovered that three other people had been victims, including a friend, a woman who lived further down Matapihi Rd, and the insurance company lady who took her claim.
The insurance agent told her that she had a unit stolen from a house they were building in Papamoa.
Tauranga police are investigating the thefts of 10 Rinnai Infinity units from Tauranga and one in Katikati. Rinnai was the market leader in gas-fired water heaters.
"These incidents, and any link between them is currently being investigated," the Western Bay area crime prevention manager Inspector Karl Wright-St Clair said.
He said the units were expensive commodities and police would like to hear from anyone who had information about who may be responsible and where the heaters were going.
Gas fitters contacted by the Bay of Plenty Times said the units were quite easy to remove, with Kevin Gundry, of KG Gas and Plumbing, saying they seemed to be the big thing at the moment. He replaced units stolen from Matapihi.
''There are two that I have done but there have been others in the same area.''
He also knew of three or four houses being hit in the same block of new builds off Palm Springs Boulevard in Papamoa.
''Every house pretty much got done ... it is obviously someone who knows what they are doing.''
He said it looked like the thefts were being carried out by a small group. ''They are milking it at the moment.''
Peter Warren, of Bay Gas, said they had recently replaced one stolen from a house in Maxwells Rd. "They are quite valuable and quite easy to remove ... in today's market, it is so easy to sell these things."
He used non-standard security screws and an impact screwdriver to make removal more difficult.
Haydon Smith, of Gastech, knew of one theft and had heard about others on the grapevine. He said the Rinnai Infinity units sold for $1200 to $1300, with serial numbers on the outside and inside of each unit.
He said alarm bells should ring if someone was offered a second-hand unit that was less than a year old because it was unlikely someone would be quitting their hot water heater so soon.
Graeme Wallace, of Macgregor's Plumbing, had noticed a surge in thefts in the last couple of months, including a house in Papamoa that lost three units. The thief returned after stealing one of the house's two units, stole the replacement and then took the other one as well.
Thieves were targeting new housing areas like Palm Springs Boulevard because the new builds were still a bit remote with not many neighbours. Service vehicles were coming and going all the time, so people might think it was another tradesman.
Bell Plumbing said it had replaced a couple of units lost through thefts in the last two weeks.
Another Matapihi Rd victim who asked not to be named said it was a neat and tidy job. "They knew what they were doing, it was pretty cheeky."
The gas fitter who she contacted to replace her appliance said: "Not you as well". She was told that a lot had been stolen from new housing areas at Papamoa and The Lakes.
Losses of Rinnai Infinity water heaters reported to police since May:
- Four from Matapihi
- Three from Tauranga South
- Two from Tauranga
- One each from Papamoa and Katikati
Source: New Zealand Police