Thieves steal thousands of feet of copper from Lexington street lights

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Travelers on I-75 may have noticed a darker drive recently.

Police say someone stole 4,000 feet of copper wiring from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's light fixtures at the 120 mile marker. Those lights guide drivers on and off the interstate.

Transportation crews noticed the theft in late March when a driver called them to complain the lights were out. They sent a crew to inspect, and realized someone took the copper wiring out of about 20 luminaries. They think this happened in the early hours of the morning, when it's still dark outside, and very few cars are on the interstate. Leaders at the transportation cabinet tell us it took them about a week to replace the wiring, which is a big cost to taxpayers.

"Every time we have one of these situations that occurs this is taxpayers money. And the replacement and the work that is involved to remedy the situation after the wire has been stolen comes from your taxpayers dollars," Natasha Lacy, with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet told WKYT Tuesday.

Transportation leaders are asking scrap yards to be on the lookout for a large amount of copper coming in. Lexington Police are investigating.

Lacy doesn't have an exact amount of just how much it cost them to replace the lights. She does say they got them back up and working within a week's time.

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Thieves steal thousands of feet of copper from Lexington street lights