1995 I unknowingly left an almost new Trek 930 MTB outside the garage overnight. Gone the next morning. This is a modest house on a quiet cul-de-sac a half-mile from the 160 acre estate of Charles Koch, 5th richest man in the country.
On the other hand in 2003, upon completing her masters, we left my daughter's lightly-used 3-speed unlocked in a bike rack in the married student housing area at Kansas State University with the intent that someone one take it and use it. A year later it was still there, unmoved, so I scrawled a "Free" sign and stuck in on it.