While police are urging motorists to remove the temptation from thieves by hiding or removing the navigation devices when they leave their cars, the crime is far less prevalent in the North East than in Melbourne.

Victoria Police crime statistics show 6284 GPS devices were reported stolen across Victoria’s capital in the 2007-08 financial year.

That means an average of 17.2 systems were stolen each day.

The Melbourne thefts made up 92.5 per cent of the 6787 units reported stolen across the state.

Across the North East, 20 GPS units were reported stolen, with eight taken in the Moira Shire and seven in the Wodonga local government area.

In Towong Shire three units were reported stolen and in Benalla two.

Wangaratta, Indigo and Alpine local government areas all recorded a clean slate with no thefts of the popular electronic navigation devices reported to police.

Acting Sgt Phil Ryder, of Wodonga police, said given the city’s size having just seven units reported stolen was “not too bad”.

“For the financial year seven is not very many,” he said.

“But we would like to reduce that to zero if we could.”

Sgt Ryder said some people still left their car unattended with keys in the ignition or the windows down, and he urged motorists to lock their vehicles.

“It’s just an invitation for thieves and there’s plenty of opportunistic thieves out there,” he said.

Insp John Wadsworth, of Albury police, said GPS thefts were not as prevalent in Albury as they were in cities such as Melbourne.

He said thieves looked for hints, such as brackets and suction cup marks on the windscreen, to indicate a GPS may be in the vehicle.

Motorists were urged to remove the unit and any fittings and accessories from vehicles.

“If you remove it (the GPS) also remove the suction cap and clean the windscreen as well,” Insp Wadsworth said.