In the last few years, in Victoria alone, the amount of stolen number plates has increased by more than 40%.
With a number of reported stolen number plates in the the Latrobe Valley area in recent times, police advise caution about where and when you leave your car parked and unattended.
Number plate thieves steal plates for multiple purposes, including petrol station runs, fitting them to stolen cars, burglaries and even armed robberies.
Other than being wary of leaving your car parked unattended in vulnerable places, you can also protect yourself by reinstalling your plates with anti theft screws, which will make it a lot harder and timely for criminals to remove any number plates.