Firearm thefts anger farmers

Gippsland beef producer Otto Nielsen said he felt "invaded" after realising three firearms had been nicked from his gun safe earlier this month.

The 85-year-old, whose family have owned the Trafalgar property in central Gippsland for eight decades, discovered his longarms had been knocked off after checking on the gun safe two weeks ago.

"I happened to walk past it just recently and the door was open and the guns were gone," he said.

"They took a shotgun that I took over from my late brother, Orla, a German-built rifle and a single-barrel BSA shotgun which had a bit of sentimental value because I'd had it since I was 18 years old."

The safe was forced open after thieves attempted to cut the padlock.

It was not the first time he and his wife Beverley have been targeted by crooks after a few motorbikes and other farming equipment were stolen two years ago.

"There's parts of the shed I don't go to very often and the gun safe happens to be along an old passage way," he said.

"Sometimes I walk past it and other times I might not walk past it for a couple of months.

"I just can't remember when I walked past it before that so I don't know when the guns were stolen, but we suspect it was in the last month."

Since the theft, Mr Nielsen is urging farmers to secure firearms in a place close to their house and in a secure and fixed gun safe.

Twenty minutes up the road at Coalville, another cattle farmer - who wished to remain anonymous - experienced a similar incident.

He had two firearms stolen from his farm, which were secured by a padlocked gate, locked shed and in a "bulky" gun safe.

In the months leading up to the theft, he had beefed up security at the property.

"I suspected somebody had come out and had a bit of a nose around at my property so I took some more precautions," he said.

"I had noticed a few unfamiliar tyre marks and footprints around the farm so I put barbed wire across the front gate and a security camera with a flashing red light on the shed.

"About four weeks after I suspected someone had been there, someone broke in and took the rifles."

The farmer said the incident left him shocked, and feeling under threat.

"They weren't rifles that were in use, they were family heirlooms from my grandfather - so I was terribly devastated," he said.

Agricultural liaison officer Senior Sergeant Jason Hullick said Victoria Police had launched Operation Ponderosa to tackle an increase in firearm thefts.

He said there had been seven separate firearm thefts from rural properties in the eastern region, which takes in the municipalities of Baw Baw, Latrobe, Bass Coast and South Gippsland, in the last five months.

"We do find that most farmers have sufficient storage," Senior Sergeant Hullick said.

"However, we recommend they store their firearms at their place of residence, as opposed to a shed or holiday home, which does comply with legislation, but the preference is to store them at their permanent place of residence so they can keep an eye on them.

"There is talk about expanding this operation across Victoria to reduce the rates of firearm thefts and make sure people are doing the right thing and are well educated about the risks."