Snowblowers a treasure for New Hampshire thieves

(CNN) -- Snow is serious business in New Hampshire, and it's not just the weather that can get ugly this time of year.

There is a shortage of snowblowers in Merrimack, New Hampshire, according to police detective Scott Park, and that has prompted concern that some people have resorted to theft.

While there has only been one report of a snowblower heist this winter, police are launching an initiative to head off a spate of snowblower thefts like the one that hit in winter 2002.

That year, around a dozen snowblowers were stolen over three days during a "tremendous" snowfall, Park said.

Last winter, residents had to shovel their way out from more than three feet of snow and thefts were so rampant that people could not leave their snowblowers outside unattended for a few minutes to retreat indoors to warm up.

This winter's snowfall in Merrimack is just as bad as last year's, he noted.

"All you need is a pickup truck and one or two guys and that machine will disappear in a heartbeat," Park said.

Albert McCann said his snowblower was taken over the weekend while six inches of snow covered his yard. A neighbor cleared his driveway for him.

"This fall, I took it out of the shed and I put it there," McCann said to WMUR. "I greased it up, oiled it all up, filled it full of gas. Got it all ready to go."

The 82-year-old said he saw footprints in the snow, but he thought it must have been animals. He didn't know the machine was gone until his sons called in the morning.

"Yeah, they called me up and said, 'Dad, don't use your snow blower. You're not supposed to be using that. Your arm is not that good anymore,' " McCann said.

In fact, he said, although the snowblower stolen Monday was 25 years old, it could fetch up to $300. Fifteen-year-old machines might garner $600, while new ones, stolen, could be sold illegally for up to $12,000, WMUR reported.

Local Home Depots and Lowe's stores told CNN that they were sold out of snowblowers.

Merrimack's population is around 25,000. It is 15 miles from Manchester, New Hampshire. But it's right in the middle of a snowstorm that is expected to spread across upstate New York and into New England. By Wednesday, it will drop 18 inches of snow in part of Maine and New Hampshire, according to The Associated Press.

So go check your snowblower. Put it somewhere safe. E-mail to a friend