An Garda Síochána have revealed the total worth of items stolen from building sites amounted to €7.8 million last year.
€6.3 million of the items stolen were building tools, it has been reported.
A rise of 35% in construction crime throughout the country has seen builders go without their livelihood.
There were 4,562 incidents of construction crime reported in 2017, leading to a rise in theft of tools and vehicles from building sites.
Vehicles alone make up 43% of construction crimes reported to the Gardaí.
Chief Superintendent Con Cadogan speaking at the launch of the Secure It, Keep It campaign said, "The main objective of the ‘Secure It Keep It’ campaign is to create and maintain awareness both within the industry and with the general public as to the importance of site security, and the security of plant machinery, construction equipment, tools and materials."
Mr Cadogan said that builders could prevent the theft of their tools by engraving their initials on them: "Recently, Gardaí seized power tools from a car boot sale in the West Cork Division that had been stolen in Dublin.
"Thankfully the tools had the owners name engraved on them and they have since been returned," he added.
