A tractor was stolen from a farmyard in Co. Laois this week and was then found with a damaged steering column and the interior of the cab covered in diesel.
It comes amid what is described as “a few incidents” of similar occurrences of vehicle theft and damage near Mountrath, Co. Laois.
Farmer Jimmy Dunne told Agriland that he noticed his tractor was missing from his yard in Trumera, a short distance from Mountrath, yesterday morning (Tuesday, November 16) at around 8:30a.m.
He is currently building a new dwelling house, and had gone out to speak with the builders who had arrived. This was fortunate, he said, as otherwise he would not have noticed that the New Holland tractor was not where he had left it until much later.
Dunne then alerted Gardaí, who arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and carried out an examination.
He also alerted his neighbours, some of whom had cameras on their property. One of these cameras caught the tractor being driven away from Dunne’s farm at around 3:30a.m earlier yesterday morning.
It had a power washer attached at the time. At some stage the perpetrators detached it from the tractor and abandoned it.
The washer was recovered first, and Dunne was able to identify that it was his own.
Then, yesterday afternoon, some 12 hours after the tractor was initially stolen, another neighbour of Dunne’s phoned him to ask for identifying characteristics of the tractor, then confirming that he had found it.
The tractor was found with damage to the steering column where the thieves had hot-wired it. The inside of the cab was also soaked in diesel, which Dunne believes was done to make a forensic examination by Gardaí impossible.
Dunne believes that this was an incident of joyriding, and that the perpetrators are locals.
He also highlighted that there have been a few similar incidents in the local area, which he says were likely carried out by the same persons. Another tractor on a farm near him was damaged, and a jeep was also stolen in the area and then abandoned.
Dunne expressed his gratitude to the Gardaí and local community who assisted in finding the tractor.
Gardaí have separately confirmed to Agriland that investigations into the theft are ongoing.