Police in Elk County, Pennsylvania, are on the hunt for vandals who stole copper from a telecom tower.

As reported by WJAC, an estimated $12,000 worth of materials were stolen from a cell tower in Ridgway Township.

WJAC reports that 150 feet of copper wire and three copper ground plates were stolen from the tower.

Police suspect that the thieves knew what they were doing, as they only stole components that wouldn't cause electrocution or system failure. It is not known if the incident led to a network outage.

Further details around the date of the theft have not been revealed.

Thieves often target copper due to the high resale value of the material. The issue of copper theft has plagued telcos for years in markets around the world, particularly the US.

However, the issue appears to be a daily challenge for some telcos, causing network outages and financial headaches.

Some companies, including cable giants Charter Communications and Comcast, have called for tougher measures against people who deliberately sabotage telecoms infrastructure.

Earlier this year, former Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly also called for tougher punishments for people who steal or attack telecom infrastructure.

Read more about how the telecoms industry is fighting back against telecoms infrastructure attacks in Issue 58 of DCD Magazine.