The high price of copper has turned construction sites, vacant homes and even businesses into targets for thieves looking to cart away the highly valued metal that fetches hard cash on the black market.

The demand for copper and other metals on the world market has forced those who rely on them, such as construction, utility and telecom companies, to boost security.

Almost any law enforcement officer has seen it, from stolen manhole covers in North County to public statues in Fallbrook.

“It’s happening on live electrical wires and on the pipes,” said Lt. Mike Munsey, a watch commander in the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. “You even see it on those water control stations that come out of the ground. Guys will come up, wrap a chain around it, and yank the pipe out of the ground; and blow the water out.”

Telephone lines are especially easy targets, and snipped lines have cut communities off from emergency services, authorities say.

“I can tell you it’s been a big problem,” said John Britton, an AT&T spokesman in San Francisco. “In the last year, we’ve documented more than 250 reported copper incidents in California.”

Copper sells for more than $3.50 a pound. A recycler will pay about $1 a pound, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Art Wager.

While state law requires recyclers to document purchases and keep IDs of sellers, many don’t.

“The reason it’s such a popular item to steal, is because it’s so easy for the crook to “fence” it,” Wager said, referring to the practice of buying and selling stolen metal. “Six to eight months ago, we were starting to hear that recycling places were knowingly fencing copper steel and wire.”

Ripped Out Pipes

In July, vandals ripped out the pipes of Oncology Therapies of Vista, shutting down the clinic and preventing a dozen cancer patients from receiving radiation therapy that day, Wager said.

In April, thieves stole copper lines from the rooftop of a Boneys natural foods market in Escondido, damaging the cooling system and spoiling $80,000 worth of food, he said.

And on March 6, Fallbrook deputies found a would-be thief dead, who was still holding a live utility line, said Wager, a supervisor on a recently formed task force to shut down the black market.