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WELLSVILLE — Metal theft has surged in recent years in Utah, and across the country with thieves stealing copper wire, pipe and bronze statues. However, thefts of irrigation pipes have now been reported in Cache County.
"It's a troubling trend," said Cache County Sheriff's Office Lt. Doyle Peck.
He said thieves started with wire and pipes in homes and construction sites, and have now moved on to farms.
"They're not going to get a lot of money out of it, compared to what value the pipe has to the landowner," Lt. Peck said.
Wade Campbell raises cows in Wellsville on land that was farmed by his grandfather. Creek water is a life source for his cows, but he can't water their pasture without irrigation pipes and sprinklers.
"We're going to have to start chaining stuff," he said.
Early last week, a thief stole 35 aluminum irrigation pipes from his locked pasture. They measure 3 inches in diameter, and are 30 to 40 feet long with sprinkler heads attached.
They were stolen from a rack, near a back gate that was locked. The aluminum pipe and brass sprinklers add up to very little cash for the thief, but they're worth $4,000 to Campbell.
"You got people that come and just pick and choose, and steal and vandalize," Campbell said. "A lot of the older people that I talked to around here, that are family members, are upset."
Anyone with information about the thefts are asked to call the Cache County Sheriff's Office at 435-755-1000.
Campbell said that the thief who hauled the pipes off of his property had a pretty big job on their hands. The pipes measure over 30 feet long, and the thief would have had to lift each one of them over a 4-foot fence. Campbell said it would be a one and a half hour job for one person.
"You've got to have a 24-foot flatbed trailer to haul it. So, it's not just something you can drive off in your trunk or anything," Campbell said.
"A theft like this, that affects everyone's trust, erodes that down-home feeling, which is what everyone wants in a farming community," Peck said.
Cache County Sheriff's investigators have evidence from the scene, and are working with recyclers, but need help from the public to track down the thief.
The Farm Bureau has put up a $1,000 reward for any information leading to a conviction of the thief. They said farmers are seeing an increase in various kinds of theft across the country.
