Methven's been the first rural town to be targeted by a spree of tobacco thefts in Canterbury over the last year.

Cigarettes and tobacco were taken from Methven's Mobil station and Super Value around 4 o'clock on Saturday morning.

They're seeking sightings of a white early model Caldina in town at the time.

Station co-owner Andrew Leask said the last time he was burgled was by fugitive Billy the Hunted over six years ago.

Leask said the burglars levered the door open with a crowbar and the alarms went off immediately.

"We've got a pretty good security system there now but we'll probably beef up the locked steel doors that were underneath to make it a little more difficult."

But he's not surprised it's happened again.

"It's what they seem to be targeting. Seen on the news lately they've been hammering little areas so it was probably inevitable that they would head out into the countryside."

Mr Leask said this year's spree of similar burglaries in the region is because of demand for black market smokes.

He said they're light and small but valuable, so they're easy to sell in places like pubs.

Mr Leaks's still unsure of the financial losses to his business.