Thieves have staged a £20,000 hit on a rural Angus business but were foiled in a second attempted raid the following night.
The owner of the business is now trying to make his premises a fortress, and warned other rural operations to be on their guard against ”very determined” criminals.
The crooks struck at the Craichie Mill farm steading premises of GLF Forklift and Handlings Services on the B9128 Forfar-Carnoustie road, between the early hours of Saturday and Monday morning.
Graham Fleming found the locks of the large stone shed cut off, after the thieves had redirected a CCTV camera away from the front of the building and covered up a security light.
Once inside they gathered a high-value haul of machinery and equipment.
”My belief is that they came in knowing what they were looking for, located the high-value stuff that they needed and took it,” he said.
Stunned by the scale of the raid, Mr Fleming had a suspicion the culprits might return an inkling that proved well founded.
”I sat out here until late on Monday night and pulled a JCB across the doors of the shed because I thought that they might have just looked around and decided to come back,” he said.
”When we came in this morning there were tyre marks which weren’t there the night before, and it looks like a vehicle digging in after they tried to pull the JCB away from the front door.”
He continued: ”The insurance is going to cover some of it, but it will not pay for everything, and we’ve had to go out and buy equipment just to keep the business running.
”Between the £15,000-20,000 we’ve probably lost and the cost of extra security and everything to keep the business running, we are looking at a lot of money.
”We’ve been going for 10 years and, luckily, through the recession, have been able to keep our head above water but obviously we could have done without this.
”There must have been three or four guys because of the physical effort needed to lift things like the generators, and I would have thought we are looking at something like a pick-up or flat-bed trailer.
Tayside Police confirmed they are investigating the theft and asked anyone with information to contact them on 0300 111 2222, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Police have also issued residents with a general warning to take the security of their garden sheds, garages and outbuildings as seriously as they do for the family home.
”Simple commonsense measures will reduce their chances of becoming a victim of crime,” said a spokesperson.
”Nowadays, it is common for people to store expensive goods and equipment in their sheds, garages and outbuildings, which is precisely why householders should take steps to ensure their belongings are safe and make life as hard as possible for the opportunist thief.
Security marking of equipment, sensor-operated lighting, a steel cable threaded through removable property and the fitting of carriage bolts or clutch head security screws are among the measures recommended by police.