Vermilion Parish officials are asking for help to solve the theft of more than 50 storm drain covers in the past month.
The thieves, who apparently are lifting the covers at night in mostly rural areas, are probably making only a few bucks for each cover they steal, said Police Juror Wayne Touchet. But to replace them, it costs about $300 or $400, he said.
"We’re trying to catch them," Touchet said. "We’d like the public to put eyes on it to see if we can catch the people who are doing this. This metal is difficult to identify once it’s cut up, so we have to catch them stealing it or before they cut it up."
Touchet said most of the stolen covers were covering drains in the rural areas of the parish, although a couple were in the city of Abbeville.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 893-0871.
In the meantime, Touchet said the shop that’s making the replacement covers is working on a locking mechanism that will make it a little harder for the thieves to steal from their community.
"He’s pretty intelligent, he came up with a plan to lock them in," Touchet said. "It will make them more difficult to remove."
