A Calgary contractor, fed up with having his building materials stolen, used Apple AirTags to track down more than $10,000 worth of exterior house trim that was lifted from a job site this week. 

Pierre Dumont, owner of Pierrefect Contracting Inc., said a shortage of building material has led to a rash of building material thefts in Calgary. He said it happened to him twice in a two-week period this summer. 

“We don’t get paid enough to supply the material twice,” said Dumont. “It’s hurting us quite bad.”

Dumont decided to act. He bought several AirTags, hiding them among his packages of siding and trim. AirTags are small tracking devices that can connect to an iPhone or iPad and are intended to help find lost objects.

Dumont was on his way to work Wednesday when he opened his phone and noticed three of the tags were at a house near Falconridge — nowhere close to his current job site. He called his co-worker to meet him with a trailer at the address listed.

They first knocked on the wrong door, and were told by the person inside that a neighbour owned a siding company, Dumont said.

“We went there, then I pressed [the button] to locate my AirTag, and it was pointing right to the guy’s backyard,” said Dumont. “Then I just look over the fence: all my product.”

Dumont recorded the incident and later posted the video to social media. He also called Calgary police. 

Keep reading on CBC News

• 
•