Terang police will attach anti-theft screws to cars at Home Timber and Hardware

Sergeant Danny Brown said a third of the region's theft from motor vehicle offences related to stolen registration plates.

He said offenders often used the stolen plates to avoid detection when committing other serious offences such as petrol drive-offs, evading police and burglaries.

"It also makes it hard to detect someone that is driving an unregistered vehicle," he said.

"You might have an owner of an unregistered 2010 white Commodore that steals the registration plates from a similiar make and model, making it harder for police to identify whether or not their vehicle is actually registered."

On Saturday Terang police will conduct a new community engagement operation concentrating on securing registration plates to vehicles.

Sergeant Brown said police would be at Terang's Home Timber and Hardware to fix one-way anti-theft screws to vehicles at no cost.

"The screws we replace them with are a one way self-tapping screws that can only be removed with a special tool provided by the police or VicRoads," he said.

"A representative from VicRoads will also be there to inform and educate the community on the correct procedure when your registration plate is lost or stolen."

Sergeant Brown said number plate theft had increased over a five-week period during January and February.

"That was across all of the western region division two police service area, but Terang is a small area so if you get five or six thefts that lead to other more serious offences, it hits the community quite hard," he said.

"There may also be thefts that aren't reported. People might think they've simply lost their plates, but if you wake up one morning and suddenly they aren't there, it is definitely worth reporting."

Community members are invited to bring their vehicles to Home Timber and Hardware in Terang's High Street between 10am and 2pm on Saturday.

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