As Price of Lead Soars, British Churches Find Holes in Roof
It is described as the most serious assault on British churches since the Reformation; the roofs of course are made partly of lead. And here are stories from the U.S. In some cases entire neighborhoods are being rendered uninhabitable by the boom in commodities prices and the induced theft.
The local crack addict in my charming English village (OK, grotty suburb) has started stealing lead from roofs on the high street recently. I hope the commodity bubble burst soon – he’s reached two properties down from my house. Who says these guys don’t respond to incentives? Or should be blame The Wire for giving junkies the scrap metal dealing idea?
This is hardly a new phenomenon: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Colosseum-Entrance_LII.jpg
Window A/C units have copper that makes them worth stealing; in Jackson, MS, it’s anecdotally common knowledge that you can’t keep a window unit in some parts of town.
And not coincidentally, the cost of those .45 caliber theft deterrent devices are also skyrocketing.
The copper was stolen out of all the portable classroom air conditioners in the district where my mother works earlier this year.
“It is described as the most serious assault on British churches since the Reformation”.
I don’t know. The Luftwaffe was pretty bad too.
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