It's a simple message but such an important one in Dubbo as the rate of thefts from motor vehicles continue to rise.

Police are having to dedicate huge portions of their time to investigating the thefts and some of them could be avoided by following simple precautions.

So much theft is opportunistic, a lot of the time it is just someone checking to see if cars have been left unlocked and valuables inside.

The Dubbo Local Government Area has been third worst in the state for the past two years running and police believe this year is on track to be another bad one.

They have attended a number of incidents where motor vehicle owners have had laptops, mobile phones, wallets and sunglasses stolen.

The inconvenience can be compounded with many insurances only providing a basic level of cover and not covering big ticket items like computers.

It isn't safe during the day either, with a large number of thefts occurring during daylight hours.

Unfortunately some of the thefts are harder to avoid.

Vehicles have had their windows smashed to allow access and the most recent trend has been the stealing of accessories on the car's exterior. A number of drive lights have been stolen from vehicles in the city.

According to police one car had four lights, each worth $250, removed while its owner was away. And the most worrying aspect is that thieves are bringing the tools necessary to remove the lights.

Police are urging anyone who has had their car broken into, regardless of what was stolen, to report the incident.