Gardaí have appealed to farmers not to leave the keys inside their farm vehicles following new data on thefts.

The statistics show that 37% of tractors that were stolen from farms had the key inside the tractor.

According to gardaí, 64% of vans taken from farms had the keys inside, while keys were left in 25% of stolen quads.

"We hate to state the obvious, but we’re going to anyway: Stop leaving the keys in your vehicles," gardaí said in a social media post.

"The statistics around farm vehicle theft are staggering – with a large volume of stolen vehicles being driven away with the owner’s own keys."

Gardaí said that vans, tractors and quad bikes are the most commonly targeted vehicles in farm thefts.

They offered the following crime prevention advice in relation to keeping vehicles safe:

Keep your keys secure, not in the vehicle;
Store and lock quad bikes out of sight when they are not in use;
Take photos and record the details of your vehicle;
Mark them with a code unique to you.