copper theft in california at least 3 decades old. Hitting vacant houses and new construction for copper pipes for water and heat pumps and AC. SB used to send deputies to the flea markets where they boldly set up booths and sold the wire they stoled. now they are more subtle.
Copper anywhere is a target.
Yup. We had a 4 inch copper pipe and a heavy copper cap on our building. I think it was something to do with back flow pressure for water. Thieves would cut that off several times a year going back to 1990s.