A yard off Waitane Place also in the Onekawa district was also targeted about a week later with the thieves cutting a hole through a fence at the rear of the property.
They then broke into a shed and gathered up a quantity of tools and also made off with a new KIA car trailer which had a stock crate attached.
A few days later an "insecure" container and a vehicle at a yard in Severn St, Pandora were entered and a generator, hand tools and spray-painting equipment stolen.
The following night a yard off Hyderabad Rd was targeted with the windows of a parked up truck being smashed and a number of tools inside it taken.
"We have definitely seen a noticeable upsurge," Mr Burne said.
"Tools are a hot commodity among the crooks at the moment."
Much of the reason for that came down to offenders looking for a way to pay of drug debts, Hawke's Bay CIB Detective Sergeant John McCarthy said.
"It (burglary) is so often driven by meth," he said, adding that tools were seen as a potentially easy target as they were widespread, and often not properly secured or marked.
"There are possibly people out there just driving around looking for them," Mr McCarthy said.
While the industrial areas had been hit hard recently, thefts of tools were happening "pretty well everywhere".
As well as the strikes under cover of darkness, some thieves often simply took their chances during the day if they spotted an unaccompanied trades vehicle.
"It comes down to vigilance," Mr McCarthy said.
"Any suspicious activity, call us - and clearly mark tools - etch names on to them and take serial numbers."
When tools were recovered and identified, it meant getting them returned to the rightful owners and the offenders charged.
One arrest could often solve a dozen or more theft complaints.
Mr McCarthy said social media was the most-used avenue for selling stolen tools.
"A lot of stuff goes in on-line auctions and they are very hard to keep track of."
He said the amount of tools which have been reported stolen in the recent surge also indicated they may be getting taken out of the region to be sold elsewhere as they were then more difficult to track.
"It comes down to vigilance and good security.
"Lock them away - use alarms and in the case of vehicles keep them out of sight."
Mr McCarthy said in one recent incident a workman had tools in the back of his utility and was working nearby.
But that did not put off a thief who gathered several up and made off.
"They are out there looking for them."