It is said, that “Desperate times call for desperate measures”. When there is a water shortage, water prices are high and you have no garden fence or wall, it is time for desperate measures to protect your garden tap from being the target of those who would steal your water.
Covers like this one are fairly common in South Africa where home owners have their garden taps used by those passing by, who sometimes leave them dripping or even running, wasting water and costing the owner money.
craniac's place 
What a joke! I haven’t seen this before I must say, at least not in Somerset West…I could either be terribly blind or totally oblivious though! Isn’t it terrible what we have to do to protect our property or in this case…water supply. Thanks for sharing.
Bonnie
I’m sure I’ve seen some of them around in Strand near where we live. This one is obviously home made from the top of a fence post, but I’ve seen commercial variants. A web search reveals one called T-LOCK for sale by SPLASHWORKS. I also found this advert on BidOrBuy where someone was selling rather home made looking ones.
It seems the problem of water theft applies to other countries as I found this Australian commercial product that works differently but has the same aim.