Gardaí in Co. Westmeath are currently investigating the theft of a number of items from a farm yesterday (Wednesday, July 24).

The incident took place in Bracklin, Mullingar at approximately 1:00a.m, and a garda spokesperson confirmed to Agriland that "a number of items were taken from the property".

Gardaí added that "no arrests have been made" and that "investigations are ongoing".

Meanwhile, in Co. Tipperary, Gardaí are investigating a theft of a trailer that occurred at a property in Nenagh, last week on July 18.

Gardaí are also appealing to the public for information regarding the theft of a trailer in Co. Cavan.

A Herbst trailer (12/13 tonne) was taken from the Deredis area of Butlers Bridge between 3:30-4.30p.m on Friday, July 19.

Gardaí stated it was last seen “possibly being pulled by a black and blue Ford New Holland on the Inishmore Road”.

Those with any sightings, dashcam footage or CCTV footage are asked to contact Cavan Garda Station.

Ireland and the UK are “attractive destinations” for stolen trailers, according to the Equipment Register (TER) – Europe’s largest database of plant and equipment.

TER said this is because Ireland and the UK are the only two European countries that do not require trailers to be registered as vehicles in their own right.

Data director at the European database of stolen plant and equipment, Treve Jenkyn, said Ireland and the UK tend to be the destinations for stolen trailers because there is no paperwork to complete for registration or transfer of ownership.

According to the organisation 8% of TER’s checks come from Ireland – of which 90% are for machines or trailers in the UK.

Jenkyn believes it is worth Irish owners registering their trailer details and checking trailers (pre-purchase) with TER to confirm they are not stolen.

TER recently reported that 10% of checks undertaken on its database, which includes 850,000 trailers, match stolen items.

These findings match up with the latest rural crime data from NFU Mutual, which showed that trailer thefts saw the biggest increase in 2022 when compared with other types of rural crime, with figures up 66%.

The report found that soaring second-hand market values and higher finance costs were fuelling the trend for thieves to target trailers to sell them to Eastern Europe.

They are often moved via Ireland since the UK and Ireland allow trailers to be registered with the towing number, not their own registration plates, TER said.