Have had a hunting cabin up north, out in the woods, that was often broken into (in the 60's and 70's), with sometimes the stove, refrigerator, oil heater, dishes, pots/pans and once the beds taken. Seemed to be pretty regular. We finally hung a sign on the front door. It stated something to the effect that "You are being photographed as you read this, and will be prosecuted if anything is found missing". Never had another break-in. I often wondered if the sign worked, or if the locals just had all the cabin-type belongings that they needed at that point. We didn't supply the cabin with the finest, so maybe they found better diggins somewhere else (or the sign worked). It was never a good feeling to be cleaned out.
My son, in the process of building a new home and doing much of the work himself when not at his job, was recently robbed of all his tools (and many of mine) he was carrying in his SUV. It was done at night, the window broken and entered, without opening the door that would have set off the alarm. He is still finding out what things are missing.
