SUDBURY -- The Greater Sudbury Police Service is urging caution, reminding the public to not leave valuables out in the open for anyone to see, such as bicycles. 

This reminder comes after police say bicycle thefts are on the rise in Sudbury. A total of 126 bicycle thefts have been reported, and 49 of those have been recovered.

“In the first quarter of the year since January to April, we had a five per cent increase in lost property incidents and six per cent increase in thefts,” said Sergeant Steve Train, of the Greater Sudbury Police Service. Both lost property and thefts would include those of bicycles. The unfortunate part is that typically they’re also a commodity taken during a break and enter, and theft from shed as well.”

Sgt. Train says the first thing people should do after purchasing any valuable item such as a bike, is to take a photo of it and record the serial number. 

“We find bikes throughout the year that we're unable to positively identify as belonging to somebody because we don’t have that serial number. If the bike has any unique features too such as a horn or a bell, make sure those are documented as well," said Sgt. Train. "If it has a special custom seat, and any specific details are great to have. It leads to the further investigation and identifying them down the line. Colour, make and model are simple when we’re driving down a road and we see it we can confirm it with a serial number as to what’s going on.”

A popular outdoor sporting goods store in Sudbury says this summer, it has sold more bikes than ever before and bike locks have also been a top selling item. 

Staff with Adventure 365 say there are two sets of locks that work best to keep your bike safe. 

“There’s the standard U-lock, that’s the big metal U-shaped lock that you’re used to seeing," said Jay Thomson, of Adventure 365. "Then there is the coil lock and your best bet for security is to actually use them tandem, to actually use more than one lock on your bike."

Thomson says the best thing to do is remove parts of your bike before locking it up as a way to make it look less appealing to thieves. 

“If you’re ever locking your bike up and there’s other bikes at the same point as where you're locking it up, you want to offer the path of least resistance,” said Thomson. “If your bike has a couple locks on it, if you’ve taken the seat off, or wheel off, of its next to a bike that hasn’t done that then the their is obviously going to target that bike over yours.”

Sgt. Train says serial numbers are recorded and shared with other police services across the country.