A total of 76 panels have been stolen from around the North Shore, costing about $75,000 Photo: Supplied
Thieves have stolen $75,000 worth of road safety fences from a suburb on Auckland's North Shore.
More than 60 panels have been stolen from on top of a newly built retaining wall in Albany, between Silver Moon Road and Gills road.
Around 50 fence panels were stolen at the end of last year and more were taken last week, said Auckland Transport.
"The large black metal pool-like fencing panels would require at least two people to dismantle, and their removal would have required a vehicle and taken a fair amount of time," they said in a statement.
They said 10 panels were also stolen from a recently repaired site on Glenvar Road in early November.
More than 60 panels have been stolen from on top of a newly built retaining wall in Albany, between Silver Moon Road and Gills road. Photo: Supplied
A total of 76 panels have been stolen from around the North Shore, costing about $75,000.
Upper Harbour local board deputy chairperson Uzra Casuri Balouch said the panels were there for pedestrian safety.
"The appalling theft of these panels has put the public's safety at risk, as these fences were protecting pedestrians from the drop-off of a steep embankment," she said in a statement.
"We're disgusted by the actions of these thieves, and all the thefts have been reported to the New Zealand Police, and the incidents are currently being investigated."
Getting the fences installed took a lot of effort and advocacy from the community, Balouch said.
"More and more you're hearing about these things," she said.
"I don't know if it's the cost of living crisis, people are stooping to this behaviour, it's disappointing."
A few residents saw the thieves, Balouch said, but they believed they were contractors as they wore high-vis jackets.
Balouch hoped someone would come forward with information.
"They're not small panels, they will turn up somewhere to be sold, melted, so somebody somewhere, in Auckland or whereever, knows that some stolen panels have arrived."
Police said they were not immediately aware of reports of stolen fencing, but were looking into reports referenced by Auckland Transport.
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