Rural-dwellers have been warned to be vigilant in the face of a spate of criminal acts in Co. Antrim recently by local members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

Taking place near Larne, in the east of the county, a number of items were stolen in recent days and weeks.

Taking to social media, PSNI Larne issued a statement saying: “Folks you will be aware that a number of rural burglaries have been reported in the Islandmagee area over the past few weeks.

“The police investigation into these burglaries continue. The crews have again been out and about keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

If you see anything suspicious let use know. Particularly agricultural vehicles moving about at night. This includes trailers with quads on them.

The warning follows the news that, on Sunday night (February 10), a number of local farms were broken into.

The police noted that in one raid a farmer had a jeep, quad and trailer stolen while at another location nearby a shed was broken into.

The PSNI issued an appeal for anyone in the Ballylumford area after 8:00pm on Sunday night with a dashcam to check for “anything out of the ordinary”.

Meanwhile, the police force yesterday issued a plea for information relating to the theft of two piebald Jacob lambs, stolen from Castle Demesne, Killwaughter, Larne, some time between Monday and Wednesday (February 11-13).

“These lambs are three weeks old. If you have any information please contact us by contacting Crimestoppers or by calling us on 101 quoting CC5 14/02/19,” police said.