A theft deterring system (100) includes a power tool (200) with a motor (M) connectable to a power source, a switch (205) connected to the motor (M), a controller (203) connected to the switch (205) for controlling an amount of power provided to the motor (M), and a state circuit (206) having a memory (206M) for storing a state value. The controller (203) activates the switch (205) to provide power to the motor (M) when the state value stored in the memory (206M) equals a desired value. The system (100) may also include a tag programmer (105) for changing the stored value.