Eastern Province temperatures recently sent the mercury above 50 degrees Celsius (122 F), causing families there to pine and plan for cooler locales.

With its higher altitude and more-northern longitude, Lebanon is a traditional summer respite for Saudis, as is the UK and North America. But with so many people planning to take their annual leave, burglars are sharpening their crowbars for the annual breaking-entering-and-taking tradition of the country's “haramis” and “ali babas.”

Another annual tradition is for local media to report on the tendency of burglaries to increase during the summer vacation season, citing reports of criminals who admit to targeting vacant homes. Police plan for this annual game of cat-and-mouse, as they increase patrols and keep their eyes peeled for suspicious activity near homes of families who have gone on vacation.

Majed Ibrahim, a Saudi citizen, told Al-Madinah daily that his brother’s house was a target of burglary last summer. Lucky for the brother, the burglars got spooked by what they found.

“Even though there was a huge quantity of valuables, including gold, ornaments, laptops, and the like at the house, thieves took only a few items costing not more than SR500. When the thieves broke open the cash box, they found a military uniform of a senior official inside it. This might have panicked the thief, forcing him to escape hurriedly with what he had already stolen,” he said. 

Jarallah Albou Saad, a resident of one of the posh districts in the Eastern Province, wasn't as lucky. He said his home was robbed more than once, as were the homes of his neighbors. The situation was so bad they chipped in for a solution.

“This prompted us to hire a student to work as a security guard in the area for a monthly salary of SR2,000 in our absence during the summer vacation,” he said.

Khaled Al-Mashhad, another resident, said the problem with the local police patrol is that they don't penetrate the neighborhoods as they should.

“Patrol units usually move along the main roads and they don’t cover the branch streets and interiors of the districts in the same frequency,” he said. 

Zuhair Al-Janabi, another citizen, said sometimes he feels the police don't give adequate heed to people they see loitering near the fronts of homes late at night.

Ayman Al-Ridha offered helpful advice to vacationing families — make sure the home doesn't appear to be vacant.

“Before setting out for vacation trip during the last summer, I had arranged my neighbor to remove the brochures and advertisement bills that might have piled up in front of my front door on a daily basis. The scattering of these bills in front of the door might be a signal for the thieves that the house owners are out of town. When I came back, I gave SR1,000 to the neighbor for this marvelous service.”

Mansour Al-Naser, another resident, spoke about a bitter experience after installing a burglar alarm at his house when he went on vacation three years ago. Despite this measure, Naser learned that the alarm was simply ignored by the neighbors when his home was burgled.

Eastern Province police spokesman Ziyad Al-Roqaiti said his teams are working on a preemptive plan to prevent these crimes.

“There will be a beefing up of security in residential districts, commercial markets and other public places. The plan will be in place in cooperation and coordination with the traffic police,” he said.

The spokesman reminded the public of its role in combating burglaries.

“Residents should take utmost vigilance and employ highly advanced security devices, such as warning alarms and cameras, in addition to strong door locks,” he said. “They should also alert their neighbors and close relatives to keep a watchful eye on their homes while they are away.”