A parish councillor has successfully used an Apple AirTag to track and identify a thief who was stealing 300-year-old coping stones from an ancient wall in Lancashire, England. Councillor Matt Smith devised the plan after approximately 30 stones disappeared from a wall between the villages of Holmeswood and Rufford.

After police reported a lack of CCTV footage or forensic leads, Smith, a father of two, hid an AirTag tracking device inside one of the loose stones. This allowed him to monitor its location when it was taken.

The tracker led authorities to the Wigan home of Craig Barker, 41, where a significant quantity of the stolen stonework was recovered. Barker pleaded guilty to theft and handling stolen goods offenses and received a suspended 12-month prison sentence at Wigan Magistrates' Court last month.

Smith expressed his disappointment with the sentence but highlighted the success of recovering the stones. "It would have been nice for him to have been imprisoned for the impact he has had on the community. But getting the stones returned to where they belong was the main aim," he stated. "It was a great feeling to know we had found the man responsible for causing the community so much pain. I'm glad we stood up and didn't just tolerate it."

The wall, believed to have been constructed around 1730 as part of the estate surrounding the Grade II-listed Rufford New Hall, suffered further thefts in June and October of the previous year, with residents first noticing stones missing in May.

Following initial investigations, including the erection of warning signs and checks for CCTV, Smith obtained permission from the landowner, Green Belt, to place the AirTag. The breakthrough came when Smith received alerts on his phone indicating the tracker had moved overnight. Lancashire Police's South Rural Task Force traced the signal, leading to the recovery of the stones from Barker's property. Smith also claimed that other stonework, potentially stolen from various locations across the country and valued at up to £40,000, was found at the same property.

The recovered historic stones, valued at up to £7,000, have since been reinstalled with the assistance of contractors and local farmers.