WESTPORT–Car thieves continue to strike in Westport, and the Westport Police Department warns that the vehicles’ owners are making it easy for them by leaving the doors unlocked and the keys inside.

Fifty-one vehicles have been reported stolen in Westport this year so far – three in just the past week – already surpassing vehicle thefts for all of last year, which numbered fewer than 50, police said. Thirty-two of the vehicles stolen this year have been recovered. Thieves have taken the vehicles from both parking lots and the driveways of people’s homes.

“Under no circumstances should a vehicle ever be left unattended and running, unlocked with the keys inside it or with valuables left in plain view,” the police said in an advisory this morning. “Unfortunately, nearly all the stolen vehicle and vehicle burglary reports we receive involve an unsecured car with keys immediately accessible.”

The trend in Westport is also seen throughout Connecticut and nationwide. Car thefts in the state jumped 33 percent in 2023 – the same year that vehicle thefts throughout the country reached a recent historic peak of more than 1,020,000, according to FBI statistics.

Before 2020, Westport consistently received fewer than 25 stolen vehicle complaints each year, police said.

While Westport police noted that the thefts in town are part of a “multi-state rash” of such crimes, they also said the thieves “continue to prey on our town based on past successes in acquiring vehicles.”