Las Vegas, Nevada is known as the “City of Sin.” It has gained that reputation for many reasons. Among others theft is one of those reasons.

Las Vegas ranks among the nation’s top five cities for the theft of seemingly difficult-to-conceal items — heavy equipment such as backhoes and bulldozers.

There were 59 heavy equipment thefts in Las Vegas last year, tying the city for fourth place in the category with Conroe, Texas. The top three cities, in order, were Miami, Houston and Phoenix.

So just how much equipment was stolen last year? Thieves stole 6,474 pieces of non-mower heavy equipment last year nationwide. Loaders led the list of stolen equipment, which also included tractors, backhoes, forklifts and bulldozers.

Overall, Nevada ranked 29th for the number of heavy-equipment thefts in 2010. Texas topped the list with 1,023 thefts — almost double that of the second highest state, California, which recorded 550 thefts.

The remaining top 10 states for heavy-equipment theft were, in order, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Maryland, Ohio and Alabama.

Texas is THE Hotbed

Texas is king. Of the top-10 cities on the list five were located in Texas: Houston, Conroe, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.

Of the heavy equipment stolen in 2010, about 30% was recovered. In Nevada, 23 of the 69 items stolen were recovered. Among cities, Las Vegas tied for fourth with 18 recoveries last year.

Thieves tended to target heavy equipment manufactured by John Deere, followed by Caterpillar and Melroe.

From copper wiring and train tracks to identities and heavy equipment, there is a serious problem with theft in this country. Drugs and alcohol are partially to blame. So too is a lazy mentality whereby people no longer want to earn what they have!