LOS ANGELES (KNX) — As recently as this week, unidentified thieves have reportedly sawed off and hauled away lampposts affixed to the historic Glendale-Hyperion Viaduct bridge. It’s an issue that has plagued city officials for months.
According to the Esotouric blog, which covers local news in L.A., a resident of Atwater Village witnesses a theft in September.
“On Wednesday evening about midnight, my neighbor saw [four] Hispanic men with a battery operated saw stealing an entire light pole off the Hyperion Bridge,” they wrote. Police were called to the scene, but declined to take a report. By Saturday, two more lamps were gone.
According to the L.A. Department of Public Works, a total of 22 historic streetlights were missing as of Thursday. City crews have taken down an additional 18 lamps and stored them for safekeeping.
“Because the thefts have been continuing, preserving the remaining iconic lights is the right thing to do,” the department’s senior public information director, Elena Stern, told The Los Angeles Times.
The stolen lampposts were installed in 1926 and were made of bronze. No replacements have been made, as they would “have to be manufactured from scratch,” Stern said. “The city is contemplating a future retrofit of the bridge for seismic and mobility purposes, which provide an opportunity in the future to replicate the elements that were stolen.”
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