Altona's Police Chief Perry Batchelor said the giving season can attract unwanted attention to your home.

"Certainly at Christmas time lock up your houses, lock up your garage," said Batchelor. "If you're away for an extended period of time, close your curtains so that thieves can't come and look in your window to see what's underneath your Christmas tree."

Batchelor reminds citizens not to leave cardboard boxes outside that show what type of presents were under the tree this year. He recommends cutting up the boxes and placing them in the recycling bin.

"That's kind of advertising to a thief," Batchelor explained.

"It's a terrible thing when you're victimized through break-ins," he noted. "It does affect people quite drastically."

Batchelor said the community is also currently dealing with an influx of vehicle break-ins.

"We are experiencing, again, quite a rash of thefts from motor vehicles. This past weekend we had 12 files opened up where people's vehicles were gone through."

Over the weekend money, GPS units, purses, wallets and personal identification were stolen from cars.

"We've got folk out in the wee hours of the night and they are literally shaking door handles," Batchelor said. "Things that are locked they're moving past."

Batchelor said the Altona Police Department has been working hard to raise awareness of vehicle thefts, this year's Lock It or Lose It campaign being one example.

"As a police service we've done a fair amount of work around this," he said. "Lock up your stuff... I can't stress that enough."