Thousands of litres of precious water has been stolen amid a drought emergency in regional South Australia. A truck is believed to have been used to allegedly steal the 200,000 litres of rainwater worth over $5000 from two separate tanks in the Adelaide Hills on Tuesday. The residents had no idea the water had been taken until they went to turn on their taps the following morning. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Russel from Crafers West in the Adelaide Hills and his neighbour Kris said some of the water was being stored as their firefighting reserve. “It’s our firefighting reserve, and the fact, they could get in and nobody saw them, we’ve got to replace it,” Russel told 7NEWS. “It’s (drought) a problem in the Adelaide Hills at the moment we’ve had no rain, no input to the tanks all year, it’s been very dry and I read the farmers are worried about the lack of water as well. “It’s obviously planned out, it’s what they do, I hope Karma comes around and gets them.” Russel told 7NEWS the water thieves were organised. Credit: 7NEWS Russel said due to the position of his tank, it is unable to be seen from the road, but is accessible for the Country Fire Service to use in the event of a fire emergency. The only clues that were left by the thieves were muddy truck marks on the road. Russel’s neighbour Kris spoke to the ABC on Tuesday, and said the truck took under an hour to take all the water. “At 3.15am, my husband got up to flush the toilet and there was no water and I’d been up at 2am and there was plenty of water, so sometime between 2am and 3.15am, a big truck came along and stole 20,000 gallons (75,000 litres) of water,” Kris told ABC Radio Adelaide. “We had a big padlock, two padlocks, but really, anybody who wants to get through a padlock can. “We’re without water, we’re in our 70s, we’ve got overseas guests here as it happens who are also in their 70s, and here we are, waterless, brushing our teeth using a glass.” Crafers West resident Russell inspecting his now-empty water tank. Credit: 7NEWS Russel said: “It’s just hard to believe a truck of that size - it would have to be a 9000 litre tank or something smaller - you wouldn’t be able to get a semi-tanker into our place.” SAPOL have confirmed they are investigating the theft. “Police are investigating the reported theft of rainwater from residential tanks at Crafers West,” a spokesperson said. “Overnight between Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 April, tens of thousands of litres of rainwater were stolen from rainwater tanks on private properties in Hillcrest Avenue, Crafers West.” Anyone who saw a truck in the area, or has any CCTV or dashcam footage that may assist the investigation is asked to contact police.