Three Hastings households were woken by intruders on Saturday night, leading police to call on residents to set up simple booby traps on hot nights when doors and windows needed to be kept open.
Police were called to two houses in Flaxmere and one in Frimley after intruders were disturbed when
climbing in through open windows after midnight.
"It's hard because you can't say to people 'shut all doors and windows' because it's so hot," Sergeant Karl Bauerfeind said. "But they need to be conscious of the possibility of this happening.
"Maybe they could set things up so that if anyone is trying to get in they can be heard."
Sergeant Bauerfeind suggested putting items in front of opened doors and windows so any intruders would stumble or have to move objects.
"That would alert residents that someone is there who shouldn't be," Sergeant Bauerfeind said.
There are more hot nights expected this week with temperatures set to reach 28 degrees by the weekend.
Sun and humidity will be high, according to the Metservice which will mean people will need to be vigilant about leaving doors and windows open overnight.
None of the intruders from the weekend had been caught.
