Rural communities across Highland Perthshire have been warned they may be unnecessarily putting themselves at risk of crime.
Highland Councillor Ian Campbell said he fears some residents may have been lulled into a false sense of security by the area’s low crime rate.
That may have left them ripe for exploitation by criminal gangs who are targeting Perth and Kinross with increasing regularity.
Mr Campbell said all manner of machinery and buildings were regularly left insecure and out of sight by residents who are not used to being the victims of crime.
He added that repeated warnings by the police and organisations such as community council’s had so far failed to drive the message home.
Amid reports from Police Scotland of organised criminal gangs operating in Tayside at present he believes it is time for residents to take the issue more seriously.
Councillor Campbell said: “This has been an ongoing issue and the police warn about the threat of theft at most community council meetings during the summer months.
“Part of the issue is that Highland Perthshire is a very low crime area and consequently many people leave farm machinery out of sight of buildings or unlocked and they become easier to steal.
“All the police can do is issuing continuing warnings, though it must be said that the reduction in police numbers over recent years in rural areas does not help.
“It would be unfair to say it is an epidemic, but thefts could be reduced if people implemented greater security measures.”
Recent incidents illustrate the wide range of crimes that can take place in rural areas, with instances of both small scale petty crime and high level organised crime.
Police are still investigating the theft of 115 ewes worth more than £1,500 from farmland near Comrie over the summer.
The sheep, each marked on their horns with a distinctive “T” brand, were rustled from a sprawling area of hill grazing land on the Drummond Estate between April and August.
They are thought to have been taken by organised gangs, operating at a national level, who have been hitting farms across Tayside in recent months.
At a lower level, there was an attempted break-in at the Kinloch Rannoch Equestrian Centre sometime between October 16 and 17, where two padlocks were tampered with, while metal containers near Dalbeg Park, Kenmore, were broken into sometime between October 2 and 16.
Meanwhile, at the Moness House Hotel and Club in Aberfeldy’s Crieff Road, a guest discovered that a case of beer had been stolen from outside their chalet on the evening of Monday October 17.
Police Scotland has said it will be working to tackle rural crime but has asked for help from communities who are urged to be on the lookout for suspicious behaviour.
Anyone who has concerns should call Police Scotland on 101 or 999 in an emergency.
