Well, at least they didn't take the power lines.

Workers on a construction site in West Seattle were not too concerned when wire scavengers routinely sneaked into a soon-to-be-demolished building and stripped it of its old wiring. It was, after all, going to be torn down.

But at some point last weekend (May 15-17), unknown suspects broke into the work site and stole the new wiring, too, according to the police report. The suspects broke open the locks on the main power breaker to cut the power. Then they were able to break open the power panels meant to power the construction equipment and "removed all the heavy gauge power wire and copper wire transformer coils from the panel boxes."

The wire was brand new and unused. Cost to replace, including labor, was estimated at $3,000.

If you haven't read "Jesus' Son" by Denis Johnson, I highly suggest it. After stripping a house of the copper wiring to sell for drug money, the protagonist goes to a bar and describes his bartender, whom he calls "Nurse," thus:

She poured doubles like an angel, right up to the lip of a cocktail glass, no measuring. "You have a lovely pitching arm." You had to go down to them like a hummingbird over a blossom.