Moorabool Inspector Brendon McCrory said offenders were stealing cars, driving through Ballarat, Creswick and Kyneton raiding shops for cigarettes, travelling to Melbourne suburbs to dump and torch cars and selling the cigarettes on the black market.

Crime has soared in the Hepburn area, however police are reminding residents the number of crimes committed was small to begin with.  A 91 per cent theft hike was driving the area’s crime spike with criminals, mostly from out of town, targeting rural areas where residents were less cautious about locking their cars, Inspector McCrory said.

“The main theme is the crime spike in the past quarter can be attributed to an increase in theft,” Inspector McCrory said.

“They are not locals, they are often from Ballarat, Melbourne, Melton.

“One of the major offenders was Shepparton-based … it always will (make it harder) for police when offenders are from out of town.” 

Sheds in Creswick and other rural areas are often broken into as thieves look to steal machinery. 

Inspector McCrory said there was a large online market for secondhand tools, increasingly through social media and other online selling platforms.

“(Ballarat) Inspector Bruce Thomas and I are both experiencing the same problem – a surge in theft of tools, from sheds and from tradies as well,” Inspector McCrory said. “Why they are doing it is not known, however tools are being sold onto sites like buy, swap and sell.

Residents are being urged to report suspicious behaviour to triple-0 or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.