It was a curious case of theft which has left an Orange family at least $1,600 out of pocket.
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Chris Cook and wife Lauren Butler woke on Sunday morning to find his ute slightly askew from where it had been parked the night before.
"We checked the CCTV footage and it showed people driving off with it, and then bringing it back about four hours later," he said.
"They even left other things in the car like CD cases, glasses and even a business card from Dubbo, that didn't belong to us, so they might've stolen other things using our car.
"I did have a full tank of diesel so maybe they went to Dubbo, I just know they were gone for about four hours.
"I'm thankful that they brought it back, but it's a weird situation. People don't usually steal stuff and bring it back.
"Maybe they were just too lazy to walk or one of them had a change of heart."
But unfortunately for Mr Cook - who runs his own landscaping business - a $1,600 weed sprayer was in the back of the ute at the time of the theft, and was not there when the car was returned to Matthews Avenue.
"We work really hard," he added.
"We're self-employed and we haven't had many weekends off for a while. It's a lot of money just to fork out."
While it looks like only the sprayer was stolen, the damage done to the ute itself is still unknown.
"Usually when criminals steal something they go hard on the ute," Mr Cook added.
"Right now we don't know if anything has been damaged."
Orange police have confirmed that they have commenced an investigation and that enquires into the theft are ongoing.
Anyone with information should contact police on 63636399.
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