If you walk around Los Angeles City Hall, you’ll see a number of bronze plaques commemorating important people and moments in city history.
At least, that used to be the case.
In a KNX News exclusive, Craig Fiegener reports that several plaques have been stolen overnight by thieves who sell them for scrap metal.
“It started maybe like five, six months ago,” the City Hall groundskeeper said.
One of the missing plaques honored Frank Putnam Flint, the founder of Flintridge. It had been there since the 1930s and will cost thousands of dollars to replace.
Scrap bronze fetches about $3.20 per pound at recycling yards.
The city has also been facing problems with copper wire being stolen from city streetlights. Last month, officials reported that the 6th Street Bridge in downtown L.A. had been stripped of almost seven miles of wiring, leaving much of the structure in the dark.
City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto told KNX News nine people have been prosecuted for copper wire theft this year.
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