The owner of a tractor stolen in the midlands last night has appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
The tractor, a New Holland TS110 with a Quicke 940 loader and spike, was stolen in Co. Laois at approximately 10:20pm on Thursday, April 27.
A Hawk PTO-driven power washer was also attached to the stolen tractor, which has a registration of 03-LS-2832.
The owner, Joe Hargroves, said that the tractor was seen driving away from his yard in the direction of Camross, one of the local villages.
Anyone with information is asked to contact either the owner, Joe Hargroves, on: 086-3580077 or Portlaoise Garda at: 057-8674100.
Hargrove’s farmyard is adjacent to his home, which is situated down an avenue off a public road; this means the thieves would had to have driven the tractor right by his house. The tractor was working from approximately 11am right through until 10pm that day.
The tractor was stolen at approximately 10:20pm last night.
This meant there was a very short space of time between the tractor being parked up for the night and when it was driven out the avenue.
The tractor was last seen on the road between Mountrath and Coolrain at about 10:25pm that night. However, efforts to find the tractor have so far proved unsuccessful.
A quick look at Donedeal suggests that a tractor of this size, age and condition is worth in the region of €25,000 to €30,000.
Livestock thefts
Earlier this month, a farmer in Co. Kerry condemned the ‘dirty, low-down’ theft of 26 hoggets from the Mangerton Mountain near Kilgarvan.
The farmer noticed the sheep had been stolen on Wednesday, April 12; having only put the hoggets up on the mountain on Monday, April 10, at 3:30pm.
However, this farmer was pleased to see that the majority of the hoggets found their way back to the mountain a few days after being reported stolen. Evidence suggested that they had been driven quite a long distance by a man and a dog.