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It's an occasional problem, but local law enforcement officers say theft of copper and other precious metals typically spikes in the summer.

They say with nicer weather, thieves are more prone to scope out different areas to steal copper from.

This includes electric power lines and sub-stations, which electric co-ops say can be a major problem, depending on how valuable the metal is.

"The copper theft problem that we see is mainly determined by the price of copper. Certainly the copper price goes up, we see more problem with it than when it's low," said Rob Land, Risk Management Director with the Association of Missouri Electric Co-operatives.

The Sssociation of Electric Co-operatives says it works closely with law enforcement, and also offers a reward program for people that turn convicted copper thieves in.