Oakland, California city officials have removed a traffic light at a busy intersection after homeless people repeatedly stole copper wire from an electrical box that supplied power to the lights.
According to CBS, officials have since replaced the traffic light with a four-way stop sign to prevent thieves from stealing more copper.
The city of Oakland initially placed large cement blocks as barriers to prevent thieves from accessing the electrical box, but the barriers were later removed.
“Neighbors said city workers removed the all the traffic lights in the last week and replaced them with four-way stop signs. The installation came after months of people stealing copper wires and tampering with the city electrical boxes that supply power to the traffic lights,” the outlet reported.
“Neighbors said the lights that were there before hadn’t worked in months, either blinking red or being completely out.”
