NEW ORLEANS - This holiday season, generous gift-givers abound and unfortunately, so do thieves.

With this in mind, the New Orleans Police Department informed the public that its officers are cracking down on thieves who have the audacity to steal gift packages from doorsteps.

The police also shared a local resident's creative way to thwart one such porch pirate.

NOPD used its Facebook account to share a post from a resident of New Orleans' Second District who said that after purchasing a new television for their husband, they devised an interesting way to both get rid of the packaging and dole out just deserts to a porch pirate.

Once the packaged television arrived, the NOLA resident put their old, broken television in the new TV's box and set the broken, packaged television near their door as if it had just been shipped.

After this, they waited for a porch pirate to act.

The Facebook user explained what happened next, saying, "Porch pirate came and picked it up on Tuesday night. I just wish I could see his face when he finds out it's no good. He saved us a trip to the dump and got his just karma."  

NOPD commented on the post saying, "Don't let porch pirates steal your joy or your package this holiday season... See next post for safety tips."

As mentioned in their comment, the next post from NOPD provided residents with a slew of safety tips to help them avoid becoming targeted by porch pirates.

One 2020 study surveyed 2,000 online shoppers and found that 43 percent of those surveyed had a shipment taken by a porch pirate.

Hopefully, by using the suggestions above, residents will be able to avoid falling victim to such thieves this holiday season.