Construction site container broken open in Villach – police are investigating!

Construction site container broken open in Villach – police are investigating!

On the night of November 17, 2025, a serious theft was committed on company premises in the Oberwollanig district of Villach. Several construction site containers were broken into, although the perpetrators are still unknown. The stolen equipment has a total value of several tens of thousands of euros and includes, among other things, a 200 kilogram wood grab, a mortar mixing pump, a wood splitter, a rotary laser, two generator sets, a vibrating tamper and an inert gas welding machine. The police have started investigating and are checking possible leads and connections to similar thefts in the region.

The development of such cases is not unusual, as construction site crimes are becoming increasingly commonplace in Germany, according to a recent study. Eight out of ten construction site managers report that they have to expect theft at least once a year. According to that Crime Report 2025 from BauWatch Two thirds of those surveyed believe that crime on construction sites will increase in 2024.

Frequent thefts on construction sites

Theft often results in significant financial losses and delays on construction sites. The damage caused by construction site crime is estimated at over 80 million euros annually. Interestingly, 43 percent of projects face delays of up to four weeks due to such incidents, and in one in eight cases a construction project cannot proceed.

In another case from the city of Leer, a theft of high-quality tools from a company vehicle was reported on February 13, 2024. The incident occurred during lunchtime at a construction site on Ulblandstrasse when an employee discovered the equipment was missing after the lunch break. These thefts, even if they are in the four-digit euro range, are part of a larger problem that affects many companies. As the police in Leer confirmed, tools and construction machinery have been stolen more and more frequently in recent years, which is why the affected companies are being asked to increase their security and ask possible witnesses for information in order to hold the perpetrators accountable.

However, preventing such offenses seems to be a challenge for many construction companies. In the same study by BauWatch, over a third of respondents said that safety on construction sites is a low priority for them. Experts recommend that security measures be considered before construction begins to prevent potential theft.

The current situation clearly shows how important measures are to secure construction sites. The police are hoping for information from the public in order to catch the unknown perpetrators and prevent further thefts.

For further information on the ongoing investigations in Villach and the general situation of construction site crime in Germany, see also Click Carinthia and Reader Echo.