Acess gate chain removed padlock still attached

Last night E and I went for a drive to pick up our mail and decided to go the full length of our external boundary fences and found our bottom gate, one we use a bit ourselves under normal circumstances, fully opened with the padlock still locked although with the heavy chain sawed and separated from the main ring still attached to the padlock. The sawed piece of chain had been completely removed and the chain then unable to be able to be long enough to relock.

Further into the property someone has gone to trouble to move a very old timber gate across our driveway, although this had fallen over by the time we got there.
This would result in the front section of that part of the property being closed up to approx. 6 acres with no water supply but poor yards.

we checked our bits further down the property, no sign of track marks, no sign of fresh manure, nothing. Everything is as it should be.

I left messages for neighbours thinking that perhaps someone might be trying to steal their stock via our property but everyone assures me their stock is well away from that area. to move them would require very obvious and slow work.

SOH went and investigated earlier today and confirms all remains unchanged and has rechained the gate and lock. he says as the original chain was incredibly thick, they would have had to have been there for considerable time, although only 1 cigerette butt is on the ground.

any ideas? Has this happened to any of you before?

Tell the police. Don't know if they will do anything, but it will be recorded. Somebody was up to no bloody good and wouldn't it be a shame if they come back and had an 'accident'.[}]

If you need to use chain to secure things make sure it is hardened stuff - high tensile chain or such, most of the stuff you buy will be bog standard and easy to cut. You need to check before you buy and the stuff from hardware store are likely not High tensile. Ask them to check or order it in for you. It will cost though!

Of course chain is only useful if the gates can not be lifted off!

I know a guy who ended up installing video cams on all his key gates and they went back to his PC. He put up signs saying "smile for the camera"!

finally got through to the nearest neighbour this arvo, he said his gate was also off earlier in the week and he noticed ours open then too.

He said that someone in a mid size tractor had been derbying around his front yard and created a bit of mess... he thought it was us as apparently our very old and non working fordson is the only tractor he could think of that would match the size and tyre description....

I am surprised though as he has our number that he didn't feel the need to call us to ask why if he thought we would do that sort of ""re-arranging"".:rolleyes:

there are absolutely no tractor marks on our place, and our tractor is well hidden and still not in a mechnical condition to be started easily.

Me thinks there may be more to it, and might continue to drive by at irregular hours.... as well as get other stocking neighbours to do the rounds from the back end.

Pity the poor bugger when SOH gets ahold of him..... we are at our limit for this year with dealing with tossers and low lifes.[}][}][}]

Could one of your previous tenants be trying to go across the property to get to another area? for example a bush area where they might have something hidden?

I was thinking the same as kats. If it is a possibility, I would not be scouting around without hubby with you - and I would report the incident to the Police. Cutting through a chained and padlocked gate is not normal! They may decide to have a look for themselves.

I agree with the others in that you should have called the Police. When the old crane down the back of our property got burgled, we got the police in. There was also a cigarette butt left at the scene. The Police took it away for DNA sampling.

I will go and see them after work tomorrow.

I wondered if it was related to the rebuild issues as that a certain sacked someone gained entry after we changed the locks (he constructed a long pole with a roofing tek screw at one end and ripped the building paper, stood on a ladder and used the pole and tek screw to move the timber we placed against the front door so he could gain entry).

Although the person involved admitted to it and was quite open about it (probably because he was sprung by E and SOH so didn't have much choice in denying it). Long story and not one I want to go into publicly.

We reported it to the insurer (it wasn't a case of theft of anything from the house, as the gent concerned told SOH that the insurer told him to be there...:rolleyes: (no they did not).

We are going around the property today to double check. there was also some stock last sunday wandering the road that no one seems to know who owned them, perhaps someone thought they might use our place as a storage point until the owner was located? either way, if they are down the back now (a possibility) we will find them today.

(trouble with so much crap going on, its hard to point a finger in the right direction). The tenants are long gone from the area. some tribal drums suggest their next accomodation was organised before the fire..... who knows?)