Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery find up to 4 life buoys in the River Lee per week.
Crews who respond to urgent situations in the water are appealing to people to never throw the safety device unless someone is in difficulty.
Speaking to RedFM News Cork City Missing Persons Volunteer David Varian says the city council is constantly replacing life buoys which are extremely important life saving pieces of equipment:
"We conduct patrols of the river by one of our search boats and we find we're picking up 2,3,4 life buoys per week just thrown in for no reason other than to just throw them in. Behind it all, a stolen life ring is a lost life and its part of your life saving appliances, you have a defibrillator for someone who goes into cardiac arrest, you have a life ring for someone that is in a difficult situation and can save their life."
