‘Lord of the Rings’ star Sean Bean’s luxury car has been stolen – by a gang using a fishing rod.

A gang of thieves drove away the British actor’s £70,000 Range Rover from his North London home after they cunningly fished the car keys out through his letterbox with a rod and line.

By the time neighbours had noticed the crime in progress, and alerted police, the criminals had already made their escape.

Bean, 45, is believed to have been targeted by the burglars because he is currently filming in Los Angeles.

It is suspected the crooks had been monitoring his movements for some time, though it is not known if this is the same band of thieves that raided the actor’s house in London’s plush Hampstead district last week.

At the time Bean, who is about to reprise his role in the British TV drama ‘Sharpe’, was said to be “incensed”, but a police spokesman said: “The thieves did not escape with much – just a handful of personal items.”

Bean, who played Boromir in the Tolkien movie trilogy, lives alone at the 2million property, though he has previously shared it with his third wife, actress Abigail Cruttenden.