It was the first time such technology has been used in NSW to trace stolen copper cables, the Sydney company marketing the product, DataDot Home and Business, revealed on Thursday.

The copper, stolen from a Maitland electrical sub station this year, was worth several thousand dollars.

Police general duties officers were quickly on the scene and they stopped a car and trailer loaded with the stolen copper.

One man was arrested and charged with possessing stolen goods at the time.

Maitland police were able to identify the rightful owner of the copper because it had been marked with the nanoparticle DNA that was traced using a digital reader.

Central Hunter Crime Manager, Detective Inspector Dave Nixon, told the Mercury: “Our general duties police had already arrested and charged a man after a trailer full of allegedly stolen goods was pulled over.

“But the product did enable us to identify the property.

“I believe it is one of several products on the market that enable stolen property to be identified.

“These products can be used on all types of property including household goods and we would recommend that all property should be marked with some means that can identify them.”

Stewart Woodger, national manager of DataDot Home and Business, was in Maitland on Thursday to demonstrate the product.

“There have been two cases in Melbourne involving stolen copper wire that had been marked with our technology,” he said.

“But this incident in Maitland was the first time in NSW that stolen copper sprayed by our product has led to the identification of the goods.”

Mr Woodger said the advanced deterrent and tracing technology had been created through a joint venture involving his company and the CSIRO.

“The small nanoscale traces used in our product are branded with a company’s details which are invisible to the human eye and impossible to remove without defacing the cable,” he said.

“They are simply sprayed onto equipment, making it easily identifiable.

“Every week copper theft is reported from a public infrastructure site.

“And every year, copper worth millions of dollars is stolen every year from Australian constructions sites, electrical sub-stations, power distribution systems, rail power lines and communications networks.

“Even church roofs and steeples have become targets.

“But copper theft can be stopped by educating the community, reporting crime and improving security – by using the latest technology.”