just had a email from the local countrywatch officer thought i would pass on.
Thank you for your enquiry, it is true that the UK is experiencing a higher volume of rural thefts, especially those involving plant machinery and equipment, including Arboriculture kit.
All thefts from locked metal storage containers in our area, involved the offenders removing padlocks, i have yet to experience or see doors being ripped off completely, but that does not mean that that method would not find it's way into Hampshire in the future.
Stolen property (of any description) can only be reunited with it's lawful owner if it can be identified. The UK Police recover £millions of stolen property every year and it is sad to say that the property is never returned as it is often unidentifiable.
We support identification schemes such as Cesar, Smartwater, Datatag and many other products on the market.
We always advise people to use free identification registration services like Immobilise.com
It is sad to say that over 95% of the UK population does not record or keep records of property and serial numbers, a simple and free way to protect our property and it is often overlooked or forgotten about. If we can encourage people to keep a record of property, serial numbers, cost, description and even take a photograph of the item, then this would go a long way in recovering the stolen item.
We know that most stolen rural plant and equipment, including Arb kit is being shipped out from our local ports, destined for Africa or the Eastern Europe block, but as stated above, if we can not identify the property, how can we confirm it's stolen? so it looks as if you need to have it datataged, serial numbers logged photo of kit etc then it may, get reunited with it lawful owner