![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/a-railway-crossing-bell-stolen-in-hawkes-bay-DEGICISIPZDLTA7VWEQ3MTT5C4.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRailway crossing bells, a rooftop tent and a wood splitter have all been stolen in Hawke’s Bay, as thieves target high-value rural and contractor assets. <\/p>\n
Senior Constable Pehi Potaka said there had been an increase in these kinds of burglaries across the region, particularly in Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay. <\/p>\n
The list of stolen items included railway crossing bells, a rooftop tent, a wood splitter, a compactor, a cabin and a hydraulic lift.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Police suggested the items were likely stolen to order.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A railway crossing bell stolen in Hawke’s Bay. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are all bulky, heavy items and there would need to be an element of planning to steal them,\u201d Potaka said. <\/p>\n
At two Whakatau locations near Hastings, thieves reportedly cut into industrial electrical power cables to steal bells for railway crossings \u2013 creating a safety risk. <\/p>\n
\u201cCrossing bells are an essential part of public safety and play a huge role in warning people that a train is approaching. The removal of these bells has the potential to cause fatal incidents,\u201d Potaka said. <\/p>\n
He said the stolen items were often stored in sheds, yards or unsecured outdoor locations, “and can be removed relatively quickly with a trailer or truck\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/a-woodsplitter-being-stolen-in-hawkes-bay-KZA7S3NTXVEODHCQN67467ZYOM.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A woodsplitter being stolen in Hawke’s Bay. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n
Builders and contractors were also regularly targeted, having tools stolen. <\/p>\n
A big driver for this type of crime, Potaka said, was meth addiction. Thieves are likely to get a very small cut of the item’s value \u2013 often paid in meth.<\/p>\n
He urged builders, contractors, and rural property owners to secure their valuables and lock their sheds. He also said people should record serial numbers for their items and name them.<\/p>\n
\u201cA splash of paint is okay on a building site, but not enough if your tools are stolen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Railway crossing bells, a rooftop tent and a wood splitter have all been stolen in Hawke’s Bay, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[67,20277,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-574497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-hawke-s-bay","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}