Thieves chop down wooden power poles to steal valuable copper in transformers

Copper thieves are getting more and more brazen in a bid to steal the valuable commodity.

With scrap copper fetching between $2.50 and just under $3 a pound, thieves seem willing to go to greater lengths to steal it.

A stunning example surfaced in the Vancouver suburb of Langley, where thieves chopped down two BC Hydro power poles in an industrial area to get at the copper in their transformers, The Canadian Press reports.

The theft, which took place Feb. 16, caused damage estimated at more than $75,000.

RCMP also noted the situation was extremely dangerous because members of the public could have come in contact with the live wires from the damaged poles, which were toppled onto the wall of an adjacent building.

[ Related: Copper stolen from metal art installations ]

Maclean's magazine reported last year that copper theft has become a worldwide epidemic as scavengers target almost anything that uses the valuable metal, from street-light wiring and telephone cable to plumbing pipe and even artworks.

The thefts can create serious safety risks, blacking out whole streets and crippling telephone and computer networks.

Many police departments have assigned officers or set up special units, such as the one created in Calgary in 2012, to tackle the problem, Maclean's said.

In a post on the problem on its web site, the RCMP last year noted the value of copper has risen 290 per cent in the last 10 years, increasing the lure for thieves. The rewards outweigh the the risk of getting caught because convictions produce relatively light sentences, the Mounties say.

[ Related: Surrey spending $9M to replace copper wire in streetlights ]

That doesn't mean there aren't risks. Such as death.

Police near Quebec City found a man dead near a Hydro-Quebec distribution facility in 2011. They suspected he was trying to steal copper from a hydro pylon, CBC News reported.

Last November, a suspected copper thief was found electrocuted after breaking into an Enmax power substation in Calgary, the Calgary Sun reported.

Five years earlier, workers found a man dead at the bottom of an Enmax electrical vault under a Calgary street, CBC News reported. Cut wire was found beside the open manhole.

While some might argue the thief put himself at risk and took the consequences, Calgary police Staff Sgt. Jason Bobrowich said they're not the only ones in danger.

“The risk that offenders put themselves, first responders and emergency workers attending these locations is significant,” he told the Sun.

British Columbia passed a law in July 2012 intended to get tougher on scrap-metal dealers who handle stolen material. Dealers and recyclers now must record transactions and identify the sellers, who are barred from selling if they don't have a driver's licence or government-issued ID card.

The Globe and Mail reported in December 2012 the law had apparently cut down the number of reported metal thefts.

Copper users are also working to find substitutes that aren't attractive to thieves, such as copper weld, which has no scrap value, or aluminum.