By ANNA USHER

If you live in Mosman and own a high-performance car, you’ll want to read this.

The blue-chip lower north shore suburb has topped the list for Luxury Vehicle Thefts over the past two years, with 55 prestige vehicles stolen from local homes.

Bellevue Hill and Dover Heights in the city’s east followed with 50 and 41 cars stolen, respectively.

The crime wave is now a major concern for NSW Police, who formed Strikeforce Sweetenham in 2021 to address an ongoing trend involving teenagers break into homes – mostly in wealthy suburbs – to steal cars.

Police say the stolen vehicles are either sold to criminal syndicates and used as getaways in underworld hits – or filmed driving at extreme speeds, without seatbelts or on the wrong side of the road in videos for social media.

Data obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald reveals at least 210 Mercedes Benz thefts in Sydney, followed by BMW (146), Audi (129), Porsche (65), and Land Rover (57).

Strikeforce Sweetenham has nabbed 393 people who have faced a combined total of 3299 offences over the past two years. Worryingly, children committed 2100 of those alleged crimes, police say.

Of the 393 people, police allege 155 were repeat offenders.

Being in a stolen car, aggravated break and enter in company and aggravated break and enter while people are in the home were the most common offences committed by the offenders picked up by Strike Force Sweetenham, the data shows.

Thieves rely on unlocked windows, doors or doggy doors to gain access to keys.

Mosman Collective regularly reports on local crime in conjunction with North Shore Police Area Command, who advise residents to ramp up home security.

“We strongly encourage your readers and the community to lock their houses and vehicles, particularly at night,” a spokesperson told Mosman Collective.

“We know that when a house or property is locked, opportunistic offenders will move onto the next house.

“Be vigilant and lock up your homes and cars every single night.”