Rural properties targeted in SA gun thefts

Fifteen guns have been stolen from rural properties across South Australia in recent week with thieves targeting houses, sheds, businesses and even shipping containers.

The guns have been taken from properties in the Barossa Valley and on Yorke Peninsula.

The thefts have been planned, with offenders wearing gloves, pulling alarms off walls and using axes, jemmy bars and bolt cutters to break in.

"Properties were left extensively damaged and ransacked, with many other items also stolen, including vehicles that are then used to commit other offences," police said in a statement on Tuesday.

The spate of thefts comes as police and the state government recently extended a firearms amnesty by six months to the end of this year.

The amnesty allows people to give up illegal or unregistered guns without penalty with 2635 handed in since it was launched in December last year.