A Penticton woman who installed surveillance cameras on her front porch after two previous bizarre thefts caught a man scoping out her house's entranceway after midnight Wednesday morning. 

Joan Sheppard watched her surveillance footage and was floored by what she saw had happened at 12:15 a.m. An individual wandered up to her front door, took his time peering into her potted plant, opened her mailbox and then walked away.

"It is very alarming to have someone creeping around your front door at midnight," she said. 

She shared the footage in local Facebook groups, and many commented it looked like the individual was looking for a potentially hidden spare key. 

"We need to make people aware that [people] are being seen prowling in their area," Sheppard said. "What seems like an increasing number of citizens are getting really fed up with the petty crime and property theft going on."

Sheppard lives in the Green Avenue area, and says she hopes the increase in people like this individual appearing to scope out homes will prompt more police patrols.