Thief damages New Haven fountain::War Memorial in New Haven: fountain spigots and fixtures stolen

Various News Sources | 03/18/2008 | various news sources

[RaceBannon]

From WTNH, Channel 8 New Haven: Thief damages New Haven fountain

Posted Mar. 18, 2008 6:02 AM

New Haven (WTNH) _ A thief targeted the fountain on the New Haven Green and caused thousands of dollars in damage.

Someone stole 32 bronze nozzles and eight bronze light fixtures from the fountain that sits across from city hall.

Police think it has to do with the record-high value of scrap metal, the New Haven Register reported.

The city thinks it will cost about $20,000 to repair the fountain, which is also a war memorial.

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=8031761

[RaceBannon]

http://www.wfsb.com/news/15633668/detail.html

Scrap-Metal Thieves Destroy War Memorial Thieves Target Historic Fountain

POSTED: 5:00 pm EDT March 18, 2008 UPDATED: 5:03 pm EDT March 18, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A New Haven war memorial has been targeted by scrap metal thieves, according to police.

Police said the historic fountain on the New Haven Green was picked apart by the thieves.

"The thing is, when someone does something like this, it's like stealing from everyone in the city," said Robert Levine, of the city's Public Works Department.

Bronze nozzles that guide streams of water around the World War I monument were stripped from the fountain's foundation. Eight bronze light fixtures were also taken.

"I think it's really bad. It's sad when people do something like this. The city spends money beautifying and people destroy it," said New Haven resident Al Williams.

Town officials said they believe that the thefts occurred over two separate nights.

The price of replacing the stolen parts is estimated to be about $15,000 to $20,000. Levine said that his guess is that the pieces would generate about $200 to $300 at a scrap metal yard.

[Phantom Lord]

What is it with liberals and their regular destruction of property and monuments.

[doodad]

At city hall. Do they have no security anywhere in this town?

[RaceBannon]

It is located right across from Yale on the town green, too

[RaceBannon]

Posted on Tue, Mar 18, 2008

Bronze fixtures vanish from fountain on Green Thieves hit war memorial for scrap value of metal By William Kaempffer, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — A thief in the night has struck on the New Haven Green, causing as much as $20,000 in damage to a $650,000 granite and limestone fountain across from City Hall.

It likely has everything to do with the record-high value of scrap metal.

Sometime late last week, thieves made off with 32 bronze nozzles that shot water into the air and eight inset bronze light fixtures. Odds are they already have been sold at a local scrap yard for a few hundred dollars, if that.

Fixing the damage will cost a lot more, city officials said.

“Design work, bidding, finding out what the replacement parts are. It’s not like fixing a sink in a building. Everything is very unique,” said Robert Levine, director of the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Trees.

“The worst part is, they’re getting pennies on the dollar ... it’s going to cost us $20,000 to replace it. It just seems obscene. That’s not even to mention that it’s a war memorial,” Levine said.

The Newton Schenck commemorative fountain was built in 2002 around the 80-year-old obelisk, a centerpiece on the historic Green.

David Moser, the City Plan employee who was project manager for the fountain, surveyed the damage Monday. All 32 nozzles were gone as were the light fixtures. The plan was to replace the jets with plastic versions.

“Hopefully, people won’t steal them again, because they have no value,” he said. Theft of metal is nothing new. For years, across the country, thieves have stolen anything from statues to grave markers to copper gutters right off of houses. Burglars have hit residential construction sites, broken into homes and ripped out copper pipes, pulled off aluminum siding and even hauled off aluminum bleachers from athletic fields. In New Haven, the Parks Department has moved to bleachers with wooden risers and seats to combat theft, Levine said.

New Haven Police Officer Joe Avery said metal theft is a constant problem, although he hasn’t detected a recent surge.

But if prices were to stay as they are, the problem probably would not subside anytime soon.

“Everything is skyrocketing right now. It’s at historic levels,” said Bruce Savage, of the trade-group Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. “With these prices and with this economy, I think people are taking any and every opportunity. (They are) very appealing targets of opportunity for thieves.”

Bob Garino, of the ISRI, said the price of scrap copper is up 29 percent since the end of 2007. Aluminum is up 30 percent. Tin has jumped by 27 percent. Platinum is up, too, leading to thefts of vehicle catalytic converters, which contain a small amount of the precious metal.

The industry has a theft alert system and scrap companies will call police or might put a hold on metals if they suspect it is stolen.

Sometimes, small items might be buried in a mixed load and employees “have no idea where it came from or that it was a stolen item,” Garino said.

Levine said he hoped the fountain would be fixed by April 15, the unofficial annual target to get it filled and flowing.

“It’s lousy. It’s a lousy thing to have happen, but we’ll get it fixed,” he said. “Things like this and graffiti. It just wears you down.”

[So Circumstanced]

New Haven has boundary issues.

Eminent Domain was recently outrageously pushed beyond reason by stepping on the toes of private citizen owners in New Haven.

And now, petty thieves taking what belongs to the public domain.

New Haven should get some order in every respect, get a grip on civility, straighten up and fly right.

[longtermmemmory]

actually it seems to be scrap metal thieves. it happens in construction sites with copper tubing. (usually the drug addicted looking for fast money)

The sad part is that those older artisan works are very hard to duplicate in this day and age.

Perhaps we need to ensure that desecration of a veterans memorial, even it it is for scap metal scavaging, is a federal felony.

[YOUGOTIT]

I would say it is more likely to be Code Pink or other Nazi organizations who have attacked military targets all across the country and other military memorials.

http://boortz.com/more/video/code_pink_wackos.html

[RaceBannon]

The GATHERING OF EAGLES, a patriotic organization whose goal is to publicly support our men and women in uniform, whether active duty or veteran, announces our whole hearted participation with the New Haven GUARDIAN ANGELS in an upcoming rally at the Vietnam and Korean War memorial

The Vietnam and Korean War Memorial Walls in New Haven, CT have been desecrated on three separate occasions. It is believed to have been done by Illegal Alien gangs including - but not necessarily limited to - the MS-13 criminal gang organization due to the messages that were scrawled upon the face of these memorials identifying themselves as such.

We as Americans should never stand for this. These two internet links show the media coverage of this story:

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?s=7556069

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59572

On Saturday, April 5th, the Guardian Angels and Gathering of Eagles will be holding a rally at the War Memorial Park in New Haven, to protest this unspeakable act and to stand up for our fallen heroes.

This practice of Free Speech by the Guardian Angels and Gathering of Eagles is done as our rights as citizens; and is also done to show that those who appear to have desecrated these memorials are not Americans at all and wish to dishonor those who guarantee our rights as veterans.

Please pass the word around and stand with us.

Where: War Memorial Park, Long Wharf Drive New Haven.

When : Sat. April 5th 1400 hrs ‘til 1600 hrs ( 2:00 p.m. ‘til 4:00 p.m. )

************

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions regarding this event.

James Bancroft

Media Coordinator GATHERING OF EAGLES, Connecticut

860-989-7219

[RaceBannon]

Only cowards or hippies would steal from a war memorial, I could care less what their motive is.

[USMC Brat]

Thieves Take Bronze Markers From Veterans' Graves In Will County
March 18, 2007

Thefts Occurred Between March 1 And March 16

Thieves in Will County have robbed the bronze grave markers of 25 veterans in the past two weeks.

The theft of the bronze grave markers happened at the Wilton Center Cemetery, located on Cedar Road south of Wilton Township in an unincorporated area of Will County, sometime between March 1 and March 16, according to Will County Sheriff's police spokesman Pat Barry.

A caretaker at the cemetery noticed the markers missing on March 16, and the last time he was at the cemetery was March 1, Barry said.

It was not yet known what wars the veterans were in or if any relatives of the deceased were still alive, but Barry did say, "it's an old cemetery."

The motive for the robbery was unknown at this time, he said. "This is the first time I've heard of something like that," Barry said.

Police in Will County have dealt with graves being dug up and robbed or graveyard vandalism, but in his experience, he has never seen grave markers taken.

##

Absolutely nothing is sacred where anarchists are concerned. I would bet this is how some of the anti-war/anti-military groups are funding their efforts.

This kind of criminal destruction of property makes my heart ache.

Local PD's need to register such crimes in a National Registry to connect the dots. When war memorials and war veteran's grave markers are ravaged that's a message, not some isolated incident.

[KosmicKitty]

Do they have no security anywhere in this town?

Trust me. Lived here all my life. No, they have no security.

I only live 10 minutes away, but my family avoids New Haven like the plague!!

New Haven (Waterbury, Bridgeport, Hartford) is very much like a giant oozing sore on an otherwise not too bad state.

[Dr.Syn]

Someone stole 32 bronze nozzles and eight bronze light fixtures from the fountain that sits across from city hall.

Another example of your tax dollars at work.

The New Haven police budget is over $30 million per year and yet somebody can take the time to steal that many attached fixtures directly across the street from city hall and nobody sees anything!

The dounut shops must have been busy that night or they were all doing their union's bidding and stuffing envelopes for the Dems.

[RaceBannon]

I am so glad our democrat presidential candidates are so supportive of our Military, we all know how much that helps this situation...

[RaceBannon]

Little Italy in Hartford is going away, too, there is only 3 or 4 Italian resturants left there...