IMAGINE toiling away for hours at work with the goal of saving enough money to buy a brand new vehicle to hit the road - only to have it stolen on the very day you were due to pick it up.
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That is the reality for one Leeton family after their new Ford Ranger was stolen from the garages of Lanhams of Leeton just before 6am on Tuesday morning.
Thieves broke into the building by somehow managing to get under a roller door and then drive it through the back yard and fence.
It was currently on a hoist at the time, according to Lanhams owner Garry Lanham.
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"It was on our hoist in the workshop ... it was a vehicle we had sold and had a heap of accessories on it," he said.
"We hadn't quite finished putting these accessories on, so the boys had stayed back late on Monday night to do that and just had a bit to go on Tuesday morning before we handed it over.
"It's really disappointing not just us, but for the new owners as well.
"It's really disheartening. We're just just trying to run a business."
Mr Lanham said the new owners had been excited to pick up the vehicle and were planning to go away on a trip this weekend in the ute.
"It's stressed our staff and spoiled a lovely experience for some people to pick up their new car and go away on Friday afternoon," he said.
"People work so hard to pay for these things."
Mr Lanham said it was around 20 years ago that something similar happened at the garage, but with modern security measures in place, something like this hasn't occurred since then.
"We do have security here and we haven't had anything like this happen for a long time because of that," he said.
It's stressed our staff and spoiled a lovely experience for some people to pick up their new car and go away on Friday afternoon.
- Garry Lanham
Police are investigating the theft and have called on any witnesses who may have seen or heard anything in that area just before 6am on Tuesday morning.
It's the second consecutive week a Ford Ranger has been stolen in Leeton, with a vehicle taken by thieves from a property property last week.
Mr Lanham said the police had been fantastic.
"They were on scene straight away and they've been really wonderful to deal with," he said.
The ute is described as being as blue in colour and has a canopy and bullbar fitted.