CALGARY -- The Calgary Police Service is asking vehicle owners to discard their licence plate covers as the crackdown on fake plates ramps up.

In a Monday morning post to the CPS Facebook page, officials said there has been a recent increase in the use of licence plate covers to help obscure fake plates.

"Although these can be easy to spot with a trained eye, offenders frequently use a license plate cover to obscure these plates. The extra glare and coverage these covers create can often be enough to take a license plate of questionable authenticity, to a passable one."

Licence plate covers are illegal in Alberta as plates must be legible and clearly visible at all times under Section 71 of the Traffic Safety Act.

"With the rise of these fraudulent license plates being associated to license plate covers, we would like to ask Calgarians to consider removing their covers. By doing so, you will be helping us to recognize and investigate the fraudulent ones. Thanks for your help, Calgary!"