A LEETON home was destroyed by fire on the weekend.
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The Palm Avenue property caught alight after a fire originally started in a shed before spreading to the main residence.
Fire and Rescue NSW Leeton attended the blaze, which took them around half an hour to fully extinguish, leaving the property and its contents destroyed.
No one was injured in the fire, but residents have rallied behind the family with donations of clothing and household items.
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POLICE are on the hunt for thieves who stole several items from a Corbie Hill property over the weekend.
The thieves gained access to a shed at the Robinson Road property, stealing a generator, spray guns, grinders and batteries.
Police are investigating.
The incident comes as the NSW Police Force teams up with local communities to reinforce their commitment to stamping out rural and regional crime and protecting the livelihoods of farming communities, as part of Rural Crime Week, which started on Monday.
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Regional NSW Field Operations Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said under reporting of rural crime has been an ongoing issue for farmers and police, but rural crime prevention has taken a new direction.
“With the establishment of Rural Crime Prevention Teams, police are now working more closely with farmers and rural communities in a coordinated approach that will create a shared understanding of the issues we face. We are in this together and everyone has to have the confidence to report and call out criminal behaviour in their local areas,” Deputy Commissioner Worboys said.
“Rural crime is more than just stock and property theft, it comes in many other forms and our investigators will continue to proactively target crimes including illegal hunting, trespassing, firearm theft and illegal firearms as well as threats to bio security.
“By engaging farmers and locals, we can build resilience in the community and work to have a greater understanding, which will allow us to successfully hunt down, arrest and prosecute those affecting the livelihoods of our farming communities through illegal activities.”
In 2017, the NSW Police Force rolled out Rural Crime Prevention Teams across the state to target, prevent and disrupt criminal activity affecting rural communities.
Minister for Police Troy Grant said the government will continue to work with police to help reduce the impact rural crime has on farmers, families and the industry.
“Between June 2017 and July 2018, almost $3 million dollars’ worth of cattle and sheep was stolen from our farmers,” Mr Grant said.
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