Petaluma Municipal Airport (O69), California: Copper wire stolen from six light poles.

Petaluma police said between 1,500 and 1,800 feet of copper wire was stolen from six light poles at Prince Park over the weekend. A citizen reported the theft around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Lt. Tim Lyons said. The theft occurred Friday night or early Saturday morning.

The caller saw someone walking near the park and noticed wire on the sidewalk. A minute later the wire was gone, Lyons said. Several electrical boxes also were damaged at the park in the 2300 block of E. Washington Street, Lyons said.The relatively secluded park is near a golf course.

The light poles, which are 300 feet apart, provide electricity for night softball games, and two red beacons on top of two 85-foot poles are no longer working, Lyons said. The beacons let aircraft from the nearby Petaluma Municipal Airport know the light poles are an obstruction in their flight path, Lyons said.

Most aircraft are aware of the light poles, so the theft hasn’t affected airport operations, Lyons said. Underground copper wire connecting the light poles also was stolen, Lyons said. The cost to repair the damage is around $5,000, Lyons said. Police are trying to contact a possible witness to the theft.

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