Police work with scrap metal association to curb copper theft

Canterbury police say they’re working with the Scrap Metal Recycling Association to make it harder for offenders to profit from stolen metal after an array of suspected metal thefts.

This week, multiple electric vehicle charging stations were vandalised in an alleged bid to take metals from inside the cables.

Charging stations at NPD Ferry Rd Tower Junction, Victoria Park, Rangiora Library and on William St in Lincoln are all offline and unavailable for use after they were left damaged.

One of the Meridian charging stations that was impacted. Photo / Supplied

Lisa Hannifin, Meridian chief customer officer, said staff were working closely with authorities and had shared images of “suspected thieves” with scrap metal yards.

In response, Canterbury police said they were “working with the Scrap Metal Recycling Association to discuss ways to make it harder for offenders to profit from stolen metal”.

Police also asked anyone with information about copper crimes, or scrap copper that may come from suspicious origins, to contact police immediately.

Police reminded the public that it is also a crime to receive stolen goods.

Earlier this month, a brass dolphin statue was removed from the grave of a Christchurch teenager who died after being hit by a truck while cycling to school.

Melissa Tucker was 13 when she was killed in March 1994 at the intersection of Main South Rd and Curletts Rd.

More than three decades later, her family found the brass dolphin statue that adorned her grave at Avonhead Cemetery had been taken.

A brass dolphin statue was been stolen from the grave of a Christchurch teenager who died after being hit by a truck while cycling to school.

In August, several brass memorial plaques were taken from across Christchurch city.

Superintendent Lane Todd, metro commander, said at the time the plaques were taken from the Latimer Square and the Bridge of Remembrance areas sometime overnight on August 11-12.

Christchurch City Council confirmed it was aware the brass plaques had been taken and was seeking a replacement that would deter future thefts.

Earlier this year, a man died after trying to retrieve copper from a power box in Christchurch’s red zone.

The man was found critically injured and died at the scene, police said at the time.

Power had to be cut to the transformer and about 700 homes before first aid could be provided.

In January 2025, twenty-three of the 41 individual bronze plaques for victims of the Ballantynes fire went missing from Bromley’s Ruru Lawn Cemetery.

One row of the memorial had been completely stripped by vandals, and at least seven plaques from wooden benches throughout the cemetery were also targeted – some of which were left damaged by the removal process.