Some Abbotsford residents are without phone and internet service on Thursday due to two cable thefts.
The first theft happened at 5:11 a.m. on Thursday when Telus and Rogers cable lines were cut in the 33500 block of Huntingdon Road, Abbotsford police said.
They confirmed crews were on site and fixing the lines and Rogers cables were fixed early afternoon.
The second theft happened at 6 a.m. in the 4500 block of Sumas Mountain Road, about a 20-minute drive away.
Abbotsford police said a large amount of Telus cables were cut in this area leaving people without telephone and internet service and costing about $100,000 to fix.
It is not clear if the two incidents are connected but Abbotsford police are investigating.
However, these are not isolated incidents.
Sgt. Paul Walker with the Abbotsford Police Department told Global News they started to receive reports of wire thefts in the city in October.
“We’re probably up to 12 incidents in our community alone,” he said. “It’s significant. These thefts, these damages to infrastructure… are things that impact 911 service, public safety, phone calls from residents to reach out to loved ones, home-based businesses.
“These fixes aren’t putting two wires back together. They take a significant amount of time, wires have to be spliced together.”
Walker said these thefts can cause outages for days for surrounding residents.
He added that businesses that deal in scrap metal should not accept large amounts of copper wire and should call the police immediately.
Anyone who sees any suspicious activity around telecommunication lines or poles should call the police.