Happy Independence Day – Keep an Eye on your Flagpole

We have written several articles about scrap metal theft, including: The High Price of Scrap Metal: A Look at New Efforts to Combat Metal Theft and Is It Stolen? Theft is the New Wildcard in Scrap Metal Identification. Scrap metal theft is a growing problem and there are scrap organizations and governmental agencies working on imposing tougher penalties on those who are responsible.

But this story from an Iowa newspaper shows how a metal heist can be disrespectful as well as unlawful.

The Carroll Daily Times Herald reported that scrap metal thieves stole a trailer and hundreds of metal flagpoles from the Carroll American Legion just before Memorial Day — a holiday in which the poles are placed with American flags at the city cemetery — and after a failed attempt to sell the poles, the thieves allegedly returned and stole another trailer that contained the remainder of the Legion’s poles. The total value of the poles was estimated at about $16,500.

So, for all those U.S. citizens who are proudly flying their American Flags for the Fourth of July, enjoy the fireworks, but please keep an eye on your flagpoles.