Thieves Steal Tiny Home, Leaving Kentucky Couple Homeless

When a Kentucky couple recently got home from an out-of-state work trip, they found their home was gone—literally.

But it wasn't a tornado or fire that wiped out their house—their tiny home had been stolen from their property by bandits who towed it away hastily in the night.

Part-time handyman and life coach Lester Hurst and his wife, Helena Peters Hurst, have lived in the 26-foot tiny home they designed and built from scratch since 2019 in multiple locations.

They moved it to their 10-acre property in Burning Springs, KY, last year. It had been a great living situation—until Sunday, May 31.

"We pulled onto our property after our trip, and noticed muddy tire tracks," Hurst tells Realtor.com®. "Then when we pulled up to where the tiny home had been, and it was gone. Our deck had been thrown aside. They cut the hitch locks off, took it off its blocks, and pulled it out. All of our personal belongings were gone—sentimental stuff."

He says the thieves had also broken into their tool shop on the property.

"They raided generators, power tools, stuff like that," he explains.

Hurst says he and his wife were in total shock.

"We didn’t have any words," he says. "All the memories—like my wife's deceased father's pictures—were taken. It's almost like a house fire—everything was gone."

Peters Hurst says, "Things like that have no value to anyone else—they're just sentimental to me. Who could be so heartless and take our home?"

Even though Hurst had heard about tiny homes going missing from time to time, he wasn't particularly worried about it

"It’s something you think about, but we were not concerned enough to put an AirTag in it, unfortunately," he says.

After discovering the theft, Hurst says he and his wife immediately went to ask their next door neighbor if he'd seen anything.

"Then we went straight to the Clay County Police Department to file a police report," he says.

Hurst says he and his wife are now doing whatever they can to recover their tiny home—which was uninsured—as soon as possible.

"We started putting it on Facebook and YouTube, and we've done two news station interviews," he says. "We visited pawn shops in the area. We're talking to neighbors about outdoor cameras and footage. We're doing reverse image searches to see if anyone is trying to sell it."

For now, they are living in a travel trailer equipped with a bed and a sink, and hoping for the best.

"Our tiny home always gets a lot of attention since it’s custom and it really stands out," says Hurst. "We're hoping that it's found soon, because we just want our home back."

How homeowners can protect their tiny homes

There have been a rash of tiny home thefts in recent months, but there are steps homeowners can take to protect their properties.

Ryan Meagher, who works in business development at tiny-home builder Tinybox Systems, told Realtor.com that homeowners with mobile units should invest in wheel locks.

"It is super important to lock up the mechanical features of the tiny home," he said. "You can put a wheel lock on by yourself, and can buy them from any large auto retail store."

Meagher also suggests using a trailer receiver lock, an anti-theft mechanism that ensures no one can drive off with your tiny home.

"There are many ways to complete this and many different solutions, but as long as no one can properly hook up to your trailer system without a key or a way to unlock the trailer receiver, then you shouldn't be dealing with any thefts in the future," he explained.