Neighbours living in a flooded community in Co Clare stopped two men they believed were on their way to rob evacuated homes in a stolen Army boat.
The inflatable Defence Forces dinghy was stolen from a farmhouse in Springfield, Clonlara, around 8pm on Sunday.
The gang was eventually cut off by two local men in another boat, as they crossed a flooded field on their way towards homes left vacant by evacuated families.
The pair then escaped and the boat was returned to the Army.
“They were on their way over to houses which were evacuated by families forced out by the flood,” said a local source.
“They said they were trying to get to Castleconnell but that’s nowhere near here,” they said.
“They saw rich pickings in those houses. It’s the lowest of the low,” a Garda source said.
“Imagine stealing a boat down here during the worst flood ever. That boat could be the difference between someone’s life being saved in these treacherous waters,” said a local woman.
Gardaí at Ardnacrusha are investigating.