The alleged theft of $5000 worth of K-Line irrigation pods from a farm paddock along State Highway 87 in the Sutton area is puzzling Middlemarch police.
Senior Constable Helen Fincham-Putter said a farmer reported the theft yesterday morning. It was believed to have occurred some time during the weekend.
''With the bit of rain we had in the weekend the farmer didn't need to turn it [irrigation] on, and when he went out to turn it on again he found the pods were gone,'' she said.
About 120 of the pods had been cut from connecting pipes with an axe or similar implement.
It was a job which would have required a truck, ute or other large farm vehicle to remove the pods from the paddock, Snr Const Fincham-Putter said.
''This is a real odd-ball thing, of all the things to take. Further along in the paddock there was pumping equipment to take water out of a creek, and that was still there,'' she said.
Each pod was about the size and shape of a car tyre.
''At this stage we believe the pods will still have a bit of pipe connected at either side. I would think someone has taken them to use them, because you couldn't use them for anything else.''
She asked anyone with information about the matter to contact her on 021 191-5082, or report anonymously through the Crimestoppers line, 0800 555-111.
