A John Deere tractor and 2,000-gallon slurry tanker stolen from agri contractor William Costello in west Co Kerry has been located by the PSNI around 5km across the border near the village of Keady, Co Armagh.

The tractor and tanker, which was equipped with a trailing shoe, were allegedly driven approximately 350km up the country after being stolen sometime late Sunday night or early Monday morning.

The PSNI stated that its Armagh neighbourhood policing team had worked in conjunction with the local community and an Garda Síochána to locate the stolen tractor.

“A warrant was obtained and the tractor located in the Keady area, with one person currently helping police with our inquiries,” a PSNI spokesperson commented.

Separate incident tracked on social media

Meanwhile, the PSNI has urged the public to come forward with information relating to the alleged theft of a separate tractor and slurry tanker stolen from a location situated around 10km from where the Co Kerry John Deere was recovered.

Agri driver Bill O'Connell used social media to ask the public to check CCTV for sightings of the outfit.

Bill O’Connell, a worker for the contractor, told the Irish Farmers Journal that he had employed the use of social media to inform the public of the theft and to ask other farmers to keep a look out for the stolen goods as they were on the move.

This showed up CCTV sightings of the stolen goods’ movement over Monday, as businesses along the route taken by the driver checked video after hearing of the incident or being contacted by O’Connell.

“We are pushing it on Facebook, the picture we have of the tractor and tank,” O’Connell said before the items were recovered.

“It is quite noticeable to people, a tractor and slurry tank out at this time of the year. It shows up on the cameras and lorry drivers have told us it stood out when they saw the post.”

The tractor was allegedly seen passing through Adare, Co Limerick; Athlone, Co Westmeath; Ballymahon, Edgeworthstown and Granard, Co Longford; and Castleblaney, Co Monaghan.

Similar theft

The PSNI is appealing for members of the public to come forward with any information they may have relating to the aforementioned theft of the second tractor and slurry tanker in Co Armagh.

It is thought that the items were robbed from a yard on the Loughall Road between Armagh town and Loughall - approximately 10km from Keady, where the Co Kerry tractor and tanker were recovered - on Monday night or the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The tractor is a Massey Ferguson 6830, with the slurry tanker being a red Major brand.