Michael Donoghue from Fuerty near Roscommon town told the Irish Farmers Journal that the tractor disappeared from the farm around midnight on Saturday. "One of the neighbours had footage of it going towards Cloverhill church around 2am," he said. Witnesses may have seen the tractor move in the Strokestown/Boyle direction later, but this has not been confirmed.

Michael said the tractor was a 2010 Case IH MXU 100 with a Quicke front loader. "A regular four-foot general purpose bucket was on it," he added. The tractor has no mudguard at the front, and the back right mudguard was cracked and roughly repaired. Michael added that the number plate had recently broken off.

The last tractor stolen in the area was around five years ago

No other equipment was stolen from the farm and Michael said this was the first time a theft occurred on his farm. "The last tractor stolen in the area was around five years ago," he said.

He had closed the yard's gate after attending to a calving cow the previous night and checked with his neighbours to make sure nobody had borrowed the tractor, but came to the conclusion that it had been stolen and contacted the gardaí on Sunday morning.

Anyone with information on the tractor theft can contact Roscommon garda station on 090-663 8300.

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