Christchurch police are on the hunt for youth offenders involved in the robbery of a person who was selling a phone on Facebook Marketplace.

A police spokesperson told chrislynchmedia.com the victim was robbed of two phones in the suburb of Aidanfield around 8:40pm on Saturday.

The offenders fled the scene in a stolen car, which was later found abandoned on Aorangi Road around 9:30pm.

The vehicle has been seized and will be examined as part of the investigation.

At 5:30am on Sunday, police responded to a burglary at a vape store on Lincoln Road in Addington.

The offenders arrived in a vehicle, used a tool to smash a window, and stole several items from inside before fleeing.

Just weeks ago, Canterbury District Prevention Manager Inspector Ash Tabb told chrislynchmedia.com police had seen an increase in incidents following Marketplace exchanges, including robberies, assaults, and scams.

In the last year, police investigated over a dozen such events.

“In at least eight of these cases, there were robberies, and three involved very serious assaults,” Inspector Tabb said.