Thieves have made a hard job harder for farmer Lyn Mullins, fencing contractors Russell White and son Brent.
THIEVES are targeting properties in bushfire-affected areas as burnt-out residents start to replace lost equipment and machinery.
Dixons Creek beef cattle farmer Lyn Mullins said she lost much more than a piece of machinery when a tractor she has had for just six months was stolen from a locked shed on her Melba Highway farm.
Police investigating the theft have labelled it “a low act”.
Fencing contractor Russell White, who was rebuilding fences on Mrs Mullin’s property, had his work trailer stolen at the same time.
Thieves broke into the shed sometime between 4pm on Wednesday 16 June and 7am the next morning. Tools, a water pump and fuel were also stolen.
In Kinglake a generator and pressure pump valued at more than $7000 were stolen within 48 hours of being installed at the #1 Creek Timber Project site on the Whittlesea Kinglake Road.
The project provides training in small scale sawmilling. The milled timber is available at low cost to people rebuilding and for community projects.
The equipment was stolen between Saturday afternoon, 12 June and Monday morning, 14 June.
Mrs Mullins said after a year of relying on the kindness of others to keep her farm running, having a new tractor was a major step in moving forward.
“I was looking forward to a winter of being independent and being able to feed the cattle myself this year, but now even that’s gone,” she said.
“The tractor was helping me with the fencing, and when I look at all the debris it could have pushed up, it’s heartbreaking.”
Mr Russell said he knew of other thefts in the Steels Creek and Dixons Creek areas and said the thieves would have known what their victims had been through.
“If people haven’t suffered enough and then something like this happens, you’d have to say they’re pretty low mongrels,” he said.
Co-ordinator of the Kinglake project Janeden River said the thieves had cut through a fence and a thick gauge security wire to get to the equipment, a Yamaha 6.3KW inverter generator and an Onga Pressure Pump. Bolts securing them to a concrete slab were also cut.
“To think someone can stoop to stealing from a project which is about giving people skills for re-employment is unfathomable,” he said.
Senior Constable Glen Piper of Yarra Glen police confirmed there had been a number of thefts in recent weeks including motor bikes and dune buggies on several properties.
Other thefts include a camper trailer, farm gates unhinged and stolen and, in a daytime burglary, nine rifles were stolen from a Steels Creek property.
