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All That Glitters Is Gone: Weather Vanes and Other Metal Theft Targets

Metal theft targets and other things people will steal these days

By Scott Berinato

January 01, 2007 — CSO —

Some items from the annals of stolen property we've noticed recently:

The high price of copper, at $3.60 a pound, has police in several cities investigating plundered central-air units and pilfered copper piping. The Wall Street Journal reported in September that the copper components of an air-conditioning unit might fetch $50 to $150 on the scrap market, while the replacement for the home owner costs $2,000 or more. Some criminals have posed as servicemen and removed hundreds of dollars of copper piping at a time.

Scrap yards in Montgomery, Ala., must now report to the police on any copper they purchase.

More than 20 antique weather vanes, some weighing hundreds of pounds, have been stolen off barn roofs in New England and New York because of their value. One vane recently fetched $1.2 million at auction.

Fox News recently picked up a report of "gold farmers" who play online role-playing games like World of Warcraft in order to collect gold coins that they can sell to other players for cash. The editor of one game fan-site reported that the mercenaries have become increasingly brazen and started virtually "mugging" other players for gold. It's not clear whether this is illegal or just bad sportsmanship.