KEY POINTS:
Caught red-handed on the office roof of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra at dawn.
A pair of copper thieves were nabbed by police in St Albans Ave, Mt Eden, this week after being spotted by an early-for-work employee.
Due to a surge in worldwide demand for copper, the metal has soared in price and a scrap metal black market has developed in many countries. In 2003 used copper was worth about $1.40/kg, now it is up to $10.50/kg.
While the thieves were busy at work on the roof of the orchestra's building - preparing to tear away the copper stormwater system - the orchestra's operations manager turned up early to work.
He noticed a pile of spouting pipes already in a parked ute across the street and phoned police.
A short time later two men were arrested. Both were bailed and will reappear on February 9.
The pair have been accused of stealing copper from both the orchestra's premises and the Greyfriars Presbyterian Church in Mt Eden, a police spokeswoman said.
Orchestra chief executive Barbara Glaser, said her staff member "knew damned well" what the men were up to. "We're extremely lucky the staff member turned up. Normally no one would bother to check this as you would think people on the roof that early are contractors doing their thing."
Ms Glaser said many employees came and went from the building during all hours of the day, and she was confident the security system would be enough to keep future intruders at bay.
Since 2000 copper has rocketed in price around the world, sparking an avalanche in the number of thefts being recorded.
Last week in Melbourne, thousands of train commuters had their plans disrupted when thieves removed 6m of copper wiring from overhead lines near Richmond train station.
It was later revealed that more than 500 trains had been delayed in Victoria after a spate of 20 copper thefts, including 350km of copper wire that ran on a line between two towns.
In New Zealand, there have been a flurry of thefts this year from Northland to Hawkes Bay and Wanganui, with old schools and churches the main targets.
However, Wanganui's mortuary was hit last weekend, bringing the number of copper thefts in that town to 11 for the month.
Last month Tauranga criminals broke in to Transpower's 110,000 volt substation at Greerton, risking death by electrocution.
They took what amounted to $1500 worth of scrap copper, although a local trader said the stolen material would cost Transpower $15,000 to replace new.
Owner of Hamilton's Scrap Palace, Brett Goodwin, said most dealers had strict policies in checking the identity of sellers, "but there's always one".
"It's unreal, all this copper coming out of the woodwork.
"When we get someone coming in with a hot water cylinder we always look at them sideways.
"We label it, we number it and we take all forms of identification."
A dedicated burglary squad in Hamilton now closely monitored scrap metal yards for stolen property, Mr Goodwin said.
"You can never know for sure. We make all the inquiries we can. It's pointless buying it because we lose it when it's found to be stolen."
In 2002, China's unprecedented demand for copper led to the creation of a large state-owned enterprise.
It was tasked to exploit the international development of nonferrous metals, mainly copper, and it now has operations in more than 30 countries worldwide.
