Between late November 29 and the early hours of November 30, Mr Munro’s uninsured yellow trailer containing all of his work tools was stolen from a shed on his father’s Mitchell Highway property near Guyong.

With no clue as to how or why the vehicle and its contents, worth about $60,000, were stolen, Mr Munro hoped word-of-mouth or media coverage would lead to the items being returned or found.

On Monday, January 6, police told Mr Munro that the vehicle had been located on a road leading to a property on the outskirts of Orange, although only the shell of the vehicle remained.

He said while police are following a number of leads, no arrests have been made.

Mr Munro said he couldn’t understand why the thieves dumped the vehicle without its missing side panels.

“Why didn’t they leave everything with it, it was worth about $20,000 now it’s probably only worth $10,000,” he said.

“They also cut the chain that was attached to the $30,000 grey concrete cutting saw that weighed 550 kilograms and took it and all of the other tools.”

Mr Munro said while he’s still upset about what happened he’s vowed to cut his loses and move on although he doesn’t expect to be able to afford to replace the equipment for at least five years.

“If the shoe was on the other foot how would these people feel if they had the equipment they relied on to make their income stolen?” he said.

tracey.prisk@fairfaxmedia.com.au