BRAZEN thieves are continuing to steal Huddersfield's heritage.
And sometimes people don't even suspect it is happening under their noses until it is too late and the thieves have gone.
Stone walls are still being targeted by thieves who cash in by selling it on.
They strike both during the day and at night - and have been known to chat happily to residents while stealing stones from nearby walls.
Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators have been urged to tell everyone living in their areas to be extra vigilant.
Now Neighbourhood Watch liaison officer Dave Whitteron has warned everyone in Huddersfield to watch out for the thieves.
He said: "Some are exceptionally brazen.
"They turn up with cones to put around the patch they are stealing and seem very affable as they talk to people living nearby or walking past.
"It is only later that people realise the stone has been stolen."
He said wall-toppings were the thieves' top target and he urged people to make sure their toppings were cemented down and ideally post-coded on the bottom either with paint or engraved.
"These stone thefts are happening across Huddersfield," he said. "The areas most recently targeted include Golcar, Longwood, Birkby and Fixby."
He said the thieves often used old vehicles.
"If you see men removing a stone wall and putting the stones on a battered old pick-up or Transit van the chances are a theft is taking place.
"You should report it immediately as an ongoing crime by dialling 999."
