A WOULD-BE boat thief left his mobile phone at the scene of the crime.
The man was caught on CCTV allegedly attempting to steal a fishing boat from Port Seton harbour on a Saturday evening.
After initially breaking into the boat Boy Liam, he entered another, slashing ropes on the vessel before leaving on foot empty-handed.
That included leaving behind his phone in the first boat, which was recovered by the boat's owner, Jane Toner.
She wrote on Facebook: "A man tried to steal my boat the Boy Liam. I have seen the CCTV, he goes down the harbour at 10.30pm and around 3.30am the boat is seen reversing then stops.
"He then goes to Douglas Porter's boat, abandoning my boat and cutting four of Douglas's ropes and starting his engine and leaving it running."
A Police Scotland spokesman said: "Police in East Lothian are investigating following the attempted theft of a boat from Port Seton Harbour.
"The incident happened sometime overnight between Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th September and resulted in the vessel sustaining some damage.
"Officers are currently following a positive line of inquiry."
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