This work is devoted to the issues of criminal law protection of socialist property from theft and is an attempt by the author to show the criminal law struggle of the Soviet state with theft of socialist property. The work describes the importance of protecting socialist property - the economic basis of the Soviet socialist state, highlights the history of the criminal legal struggle against theft of socialist property at various stages of the development of the Soviet state and the importance of this struggle in the implementation of its basic functions by the Soviet state, and also analyzes the current Soviet criminal legislation to combat theft and the practice of applying this legislation.