Offaly Gardai host successful property marking day

Gardai in Offaly helped safeguard valuables for locals at property branding events held at Ballyboy car park and Birr mart on Friday last.

The events were organised in conjunction with Birr Neighbourhood Watch, Ballyboy Community Development, and Pat Duggan of Muintir na Tíre.

The day was described as a great success, with a strong turnout from the community.

"A wide range of property was marked, including bicycles, tools and boat engines," said An Garda Siochana in a social media post.

"Property marking is a simple but very effective crime prevention measure. It helps deter theft and makes it easier to identify and return property if it is stolen.

"Thank you to everyone who attended and supported the event. A great community effort."

Property branding marks items with a unique identifier which can be easily used by Gardai to identify the owner if the items is stolen. It's designed to deter thefts and the sale of stolen goods by thieves.

Examples of items that can be branded include trailers and horse boxes, phones, tablets, laptops, gardening equipment such as mowers and strimmers, bicycles, cameras, power washers, musical instruments and more.