COVERT cameras put up to capture crooks who have been stealing Christmas trees have themselves been stolen – twice.

The Forestry Commission had noticed several seven-foot Norway Spruces had vanished from a plantation in Hamsterley Forest in County Durham over the past two weeks.

On Friday, December 7, they fitted a covert camera in the Pennington Plantation, which is only accessible by authorised vehicles - but four days later the tree it was attacked to had been taken.

A second camera was installed, but that too was taken by thieves, who have also stolen six trees each worth £30 over the past fortnight.

Richard Darn from the Forestry Commission said the cameras, each worth about £250, were designed to catch the tree thieves in the act.

“They were motion censored so would come in if triggered by movement," he said.

“The plantation is where we grow our trees to sell and is in an area that should only be accessed by authorised vehicles.

“If you see a vehicle there that is not with the Forestry Commission, it should not be there and should be reported.”

Mr Darn said the cameras will have recorded images of their thieves but the data was stored on their internal memory.

“We are now investing in equipment that will download recordings to another computer and are stepping up patrols in the area.”

Mr Darn said the trees were due to be sold, and said stealing them was a Scrooge-like act.

He added: “Theft is a serious crime, but chopping down trees is also not a good idea, there are serious safety concerns.”

PC Stewart Baker from Bishop Auckland urged anyone visiting the forest to keep an eye out for the crooks.

He said: “It is an unusual crime and we believe the thieves targeted the trees where the cameras were hidden, it was no coincidence they took those trees.

“It is believed that the offenders have used a vehicle to take the trees away from the plantation towards Windy Bank Road in Woodland.

“I would urge any dog walkers, hikers or cyclists who are using the forest and see suspicious vehicles or behaviour to report it to police.”

PC Walker asked for any information relating to the tree and camera thefts to be reported to him via 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.