Did you guys happen to catch this story. That reminds me of the time when a friend of mine had his copper piping stole out of his house back in the early 80's. 
(CBS13) SACRAMENTO You really don't notice them until they're not there. Looking closely at some northern California freeways you can see huge chunks of guard rail are now missing.
Caltrans says since the start of the year crooks have stealing them by the truckload.
“You think you've seen everything that could happen but what do you know, they come and steal our guard rail,” said Jeff Weiss of Caltrans.
He says the reason is the recycling and scrap metal value for aluminum and other metals is way up. Some dealers are offering about $3 a pound.
“Metal prices have spiked a lot. It’s so high that people are even tearing up guard rail to sell it for scrap,” added Weiss.
Caltrans says in one month the crooks have stolen about 3,000 feet of rail, worth about $90,000.
They also mention whoever is doing this is putting drivers at risk.
“The guard rail is there to keep cars from going over the edge,” said Weiss.
Luckily there have been no reports of accidents because of the thefts, but Caltrans is now spending thousands of dollars of tax payers money installing new barriers. They're now looking for an alternative to aluminum.
Caltrans says since the start of the year crooks have stealing them by the truckload.
“You think you've seen everything that could happen but what do you know, they come and steal our guard rail,” said Jeff Weiss of Caltrans.
He says the reason is the recycling and scrap metal value for aluminum and other metals is way up. Some dealers are offering about $3 a pound.
“Metal prices have spiked a lot. It’s so high that people are even tearing up guard rail to sell it for scrap,” added Weiss.
Caltrans says in one month the crooks have stolen about 3,000 feet of rail, worth about $90,000.
They also mention whoever is doing this is putting drivers at risk.
“The guard rail is there to keep cars from going over the edge,” said Weiss.
Luckily there have been no reports of accidents because of the thefts, but Caltrans is now spending thousands of dollars of tax payers money installing new barriers. They're now looking for an alternative to aluminum.
