PowerQuip logsplitter stolen in Maungakaramea, white station wagon suspected to be involved

This PowerQuip logsplitter, valued at $3400, was stolen from a Maungakaramea property recently. Photo / Supplied

A Maungakaramea man is hoping the public can help recover his $3400 PowerQuip logsplitter which was stolen last Sunday.

Dale Hamlin, a 38-year-old builder, said he saw the splitter in his paddock near his house on Sunday, October 18 but on the following day, he noticed tyre tracks in the grass leading away from the paddock.

However, it wasn't until a week later when Hamlin became aware the splitter was missing after he thought to check the splitter when an unknown white station wagon drove down his driveway on Sunday (October 25) which alerted his dogs.

Hamlin gave chase but he could not locate the vehicle. He then went to check the splitter which he found was missing.

On Monday, Hamlin posted a picture of the splitter on a number of community Facebook pages in the hope anyone might know its whereabouts.

"You never know, someone might have seen it or know where it is, I've heard of a few people doing it and getting their stuff back, but who knows," he said.

Hamlin, who had only owned the 45-tonne splitter for three months, confirmed it could not be seen from the road at the time of the theft. As at yesterday morning, he wasn't sure whether it would be covered by insurance.

Hamlin, who had lived in the area for about 10 years, said it was the first instance of theft he had experienced living there. However, he encouraged other residents to install cameras and other security measures just in case.

"Yes, you have to have them, there's just too much of it going on."

Whangārei Police Sergeant James Calvert said while no one had been charged, the white station wagon seen by Hamlin on the weekend was connected to another theft in the area last week and the investigation was ongoing.

While he couldn't rule it out, Calvert said there wasn't a noticeable spike in rural burglaries currently.

Nevertheless, he said the best action people could take when such thefts occurred was to report them - either via the police's 105 phone number or its online reporting tool found at police.govt.nz/105support

"We obviously can't do anything unless we know about it, so reporting is really important," he said.

He advised anyone who lived rurally to make sure their fences and gates were locked, used sufficient security measures such as cameras and sensor lights, and they had good support networks with their neighbours.

"Rural communities often know who should be around and who shouldn't and when they are seeing things that don't look right, it's probably because they're not."