Cost of Copper

With the increasing cost of copper, many thieves resorted to stealing copper from wherever they could find it, including outdoor central air units.  At first, thieves totally destroyed the units by robbing them of all the copper wires and tubing.  Now in recent weeks, the Wilkes Sheriff’s Department has received a couple of reports where the entire unit was stolen.  In the most recent report, the owner of a home on Skyview Road returned to find their outdoor central air unit was gone.  The victim had been gone from home for a couple of weeks, so the theft occurred sometime since the first of July.  A spokesperson with the Wilkes Sheriff’s Office said they didn’t know if thieves were now stealing the complete A/C units to re-sale them or if they were still scraping them out for the copper and other metals.  There are no suspects at this time.