Oshkosh Police say they've taken 15 reports of guns stolen from vehicles in the city this year, up from seven gun-from-vehicle thefts in all of 2016.

The department says almost all of these thefts have happened when the driver fails to lock the vehicle and remove the gun from the vehicle when the weapon is not in use.

Most of the thefts are happening overnight, police say.

Officer Joe Nichols said, "We understand there are concealed carry laws in Wisconsin but still to leave your gun unattended inside of a vehicle maybe in plain view and then leave your doors unlocked on top of that your just inviting a criminal to come in and take that gun."

Police are asking people to lock their vehicles and remove any valuables from sight.

In total, Oshkosh Police have taken 25 stolen guns reports in 2017.

Some of those guns have turned up in the Milwaukee area.

While police don't believe all the cases are connected, they do suspect the motives to be similar.

Nichols said,"Anything of value, whether it's clothing, change, phone cords, computers, whatever they can find they're going to trade it for drugs. A gun is a very valuable thing to a drug dealer, to a thief."

Jon Gafner of Jon's Sport Shop in Oshkosh says the theft of a gun is something that should never happen.

"You can't allow the opportunity to exist. Make it as possible hard as you can. Simple things too, putting a gun lock, making sure the gun lock is on, or take an integral part of the gun out, take the magazine out," said Gafner.