Verizon has blamed a network outage over the weekend on multiple fiber cuts.

Thousands of Verizon customers were impacted by the outage in Southern California on Sunday, before engineers restored the network around 7:30 pm PT.

Downdetector noted that more than 12,000 Verizon customers reported issues with their network service on Sunday.

Verizon was quick to point out that the problem was caused by vandals who targeted its network infrastructure.

"Vandals cut multiple fiber cables, causing mobile and Internet disruptions in parts of Southern California. Law enforcement is engaged," said Verizon in a statement on X yesterday.

"Acts of network theft and vandalism represent a direct threat to the safety and security of our communities. Verizon is committed to raising awareness and driving proactive solutions to prevent these direct attacks."

The carrier didn't specify the location of the attacks, though it said it's working with law enforcement to learn more.

The incident represents the growing challenge that mobile carriers face, both in the US and globally, around fiber cuts and copper theft.

AT&T has reported multiple copper theft incidents in the past year. In April, the carrier reported that it was the victim of more than 10,000 incidents last year, cumulatively valued at $82 million.

Verizon previously suffered a network outage in January, though on that occasion the carrier blamed the 12-hour downtime on a software issue.