A key problem at the Canberra Police property office made headlines on this day in 1976 with more than 10,000 unclaimed keys waiting for their owners.
The keys were the responsibility of two men, Constable Les Summerfield and Constable Trevor Clarke, who said most of the keys were car, house and office keys.
Most of the keys were not identifiable because only a few had markings on them.
Constable Summerfield said 500 keys were handed in a month. Some belonged to people in Tasmania and even New Zealand.
Constable Clarke said people should have a tag attached to their keys with their name and telephone number so the keys could be easily returned.
Most people did not realise that police stations had lost property and only a few people had come in to ask for lost property.
Interesting items at the lost property included motorcycle crash helmets, a movie camera, wicketkeeping gloves, a fire extinguisher and a kitchen sink.
Property could be claimed at police headquarters between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
