Found in front of a door in Neupré in Wallonia. — © Police Seraing-Neupré
For almost two weeks, residents of the Walloon Neupré (Liège) and surrounding areas have been finding waffles, leeks, even children’s bicycles or slippers at their front door. At first they thought it was a joke, but now the police have called for vigilance.
Bad boy pranks, a game of the youth movement, everything has already been thought of. It is certainly not normal for residents to find all kinds of objects on their doorstep in the morning. From a children’s bicycle to stalks of leek or a pair of slippers.
According to the Seraing-Neupré police zone, which is investigating the case, there is a suspected link with a recent home burglary. There too, there was a leek in front of the door, but no one had really paid attention to it. Until the residents were confronted with thieves.
“We therefore take into account that the objects left behind are related to the theft. That it is a new technology to indicate where people are at home or not or whether there is a watchdog, for example,” says Chief Commissioner Yves Hendrix of the Seraing-Neupré police zone.
It is not limited to the municipality, says Hendrix, the phenomenon also occurs elsewhere in the region. “We do not have hard evidence yet, but we strongly consider that it may involve code language. That is why we warn everyone to remain alert and report suspicious situations.”
Urban myth?
Peter Burger from Leiden University in the Netherlands has been researching the so-called thieves’ codes for more than 15 years. He previously said: “There are almost always demonstrable explanations for certain signs on the street. However, there is no general secret thieves’ code. It is a persistent rumor that resurfaces regularly. The most striking thing is that it is official bodies, such as police services, that start the story again and again. But it is a real big story, not only in Flanders and the Netherlands.”
And yet. Now take Dendermonde in East Flanders. According to the local police, a few years ago a link could be made between toothpicks stuck between doors or windows – another thief’s code – and burglaries. If the toothpick remains in place, burglars know that no one has been home. Other code language would include chalk marks or lines of glue on homes or on the sidewalk. But whether they really belonged to burglars or their scouts has never been proven.