Three out of five vehicles thefts in Saskatchewan are because the keys are left in the car.

That's why a new vehicle theft prevention campaign has been launched by the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police to educate vehicle owners to lock their vehicles and take out keys and valuables.

Moose Jaw Deputy Chief Cliff Froehlich says you shouldn't leave spare change out in plain sight either.

"What seems like parking meter money or car wash money, to someone else that's their means of survival. We certainly have those people in our community, that's their means of survival. If they do 20 or 30 cars a night and they get $2 or $3 out of each car, that's a $60 night for them."

Froehlich describes how a thief can go from stealing items out of a car, to actually stealing the vehicle.

"A lot of times is what happens is the people that are doing the vehicle thefts are rummaging through the unlocked vehicle looking for any valuables and they will stumble upon a key that are either in the console or the glove box or under the seat where you have it stashed where only you think it is."

The campaign, run in partnership with Saskatchewan Government Insurance will use media to help reduce the amount of vehicles stolen or robbed in the province.

The campaign will run for 10 weeks.