While hunters prepare to set their sights on area wildlife, thieves are fast at work targeting their hunting equipment and ATVs.

Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator said with hunting season just around the corner, the Sheriff’s Office is beginning to receive reports of stolen four wheelers. The ATVs are typically taken across state lines, moved to private hunting camps, or sold locally at cheap prices, the sheriff said.

Over the Labor Day holiday, a 2009 Polaris 400 Ranger valued at $13,000 was taken from a construction site south of Hosston. Authorities are asking for the public's help to locate the ATV, which is black and has the VIN #4XARH45A2BB417935. It was parked in an open field near Hwy. 71 and Huckabay Road.

Lt. Bill Rehak, of the Sheriff’s Office Detective Division, recommends that ATV owners mark their vehicles with their driver’s license number. They should also park their vehicle out of sight, and most importantly remove the key from the vehicle.

“This is the time where people get them out and use them to prepare their hunting leases, and by doing so they end up displaying them for criminals to see,” Rehak said. “Plain and simple, it's that time of year, and anyone with an ATV should be aware of the potential for theft.”

Anyone with information about the stolen Polaris is urged to contact Detective Charles Bradford at 675-2170 or Crime Stoppers at 673-7373.