According to Manning Great Lakes Police District, twelve incidents were reports to police in January, with 11 in February and nine in March.

A vessel was also reported stolen in January.

Chief inspector Christine George said the sporadic nature of reports shows no 'hot spots' for the crime in the police district.

"It's very random and we analyse where the vehicles are stolen and where they're recovered.

"Then we look at if it was someone wanting to get from 'A' to 'B' but then we'll be looking to see if there were any other vehicles stolen in that area and coming back to where 'A' was in the first place.

"We're looking to see where our offenders live and if it could be anyone we're targeting at the time," Chief Inspector George said.

In recent weeks, vehicles were stolen from Johns River (later located further up the coast) and Forster.

Motor vehicle theft has been made harder in recent years, as more modern vehicles can't be hot-wired.

"It's changed the dynamics of vehicle theft right across our region and right across the State," Chief Inspector George said.

Prevalent cases of vehicle thefts followed house break ins, according to chief inspector George.

"(It's where) the house is broken into and people leave their keys either in the car shed or they have them inside the house near their wallet," Chief Inspector George said.

She added motives for criminals to steal cars include convenience or to commit other crimes.

"We have had incidents, not recently, where a vehicle has been stolen and it's been used a few days later in an armed robbery as the getaway vehicle.

"In Sydney you see a lot of that with high performance vehicles because they're looking for a car that outruns the cops.

"There's not many of those on the market," Chief Inspector George said.

According to insurer Budget Direct, the most commonly stolen vehicle is the Holden Commodore.

Others include Ford Falcon, Toyota Hilux, Nissan Pulsar and Toyota Corolla.

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