by Emma Ballingall

Car theft is on the rise in Baw Baw, with 10 vehicles reported stolen in the past fortnight.

It comes as latest Crime Statistics Agency figures showed car theft incidents across Victoria are at a 10-year high.
Nine of the 10 car thefts were from residential addresses, with five occurring during aggravated burglaries.
Whilst two cars were later recovered in Warragul and Leongatha, two were found destroyed by fire at Tynong.
And, an additional stolen car was found alight after alarms and explosions alerted residents to a fire at Lillico. It was stolen from Cranbourne Railway Station.
Further to the car thefts, a boat and trailer were stolen from Warragul, an all-terrain vehicle from Shady Creek, a quad bike from Buln Buln East and a pizza delivery driver gave chase during an attempted car theft in Warragul.
With the weather warming up, local police have reinforced the importance of locking both vehicles and homes.
On several occasions, opportunistic thieves have used unlocked doors to enter homes and steal vehicle keys, before driving off in the vehicle.
Police data showed a sharp increase in aggravated burglaries and car thefts from October 19 to November 9, Victoria Police warned.
Acting superintendent Andrew McKee said people spend more time outdoors, with windows and doors on homes open at different times of the day, during summer.

"If you lock your property, the odds of falling victim dramatically reduce,