It's shiny, it's orange-colored, and it's a favorite target of thieves these days.

A former temporary worker was arrested over the weekend for allegedly sneaking repeatedly into a Manheim Township business called Thermacore and stealing $30,000 worth of copper.

Copper thefts are becoming commonplace across the county and the nation, due to the high prices the metal commands at salvage yards. Water pipes, tubes, gutters, utility wires, even cemetery vases — anything made from copper is being swiped at alarming rates.

At least eight copper thefts have been reported since November in Lancaster County, including from homes in the city and in Reinholds, a PPL substation in Penn Township and a Franklin & Marshall College construction site.

In January, four men were ordered to stand trial on charges of stealing copper plumbing worth thousands of dollars from 50 western Lancaster County homes.

Elsewhere, wily copper thieves left a Las Vegas neighborhood in the dark after they stripped copper wires from street lights. Others disabled a Georgia train signal by stripping wire from it.

And that was just last week.

"It's a nationwide trend," says Manheim Township Police Detective Brent Shultz, who handled the Thermacore case. "We've seen other cases in the township, where residences were entered and copper piping was taken. We've had other business and construction sites where it was taken too."

Shultz charged Warren Parker, 39, of Lancaster, with stealing the copper from Thermacore, an Eden Road business that makes electronic cooling devices.

According to police, officers from Manheim Township Police Department's 2nd Platoon helped nab Parker Saturday night as he was loading his latest take into the trunk of a red Toyota Camry. He was wearing a bandanna on his face and plastic grocery bags on his hands at the time, they said.

Shultz said Parker entered the business at least six times since November, surreptitiously forcing open a door and taking the precious metal.

An inventory by the company turned up the thefts back in December. Officials then did a security review and found Parker's image on in-house surveillance cameras. Police said that due to the pattern of the thefts, they were ready for him over the weekend.

Parker, who was taken to Lancaster County Prison, has an extensive criminal history that dates back to 1992 and includes charges of assault, stalking, burglary, theft, escape from police and drug charges, according to county court records.

Plant manager Leonard Dore said Parker was a temporary worker at the company for two weeks back in October. The company has beefed up its security to prevent further problems, he said.

Dore said he is aware of a rash of copper thefts in the electronics industry.

"It's the value of the metal at this time that's causing this particular problem," he said.

Salvage yards are paying $2.35 a pound for the top grade of copper, said Jack Smith, owner of the Lancaster Salvage Company on North Plum Street. The price went to nearly $3 a pound in the past year.

"Those numbers are very much out of the ordinary," said Smith, who's been in the salvage business for 50 years. "It's never been this high in the history of the business."

The laws of supply and demand have pushed up the prices, he said. Manufacturers need the material and will pay the asking prices.

Salvage yards cannot tell which sellers are legitimate and which are not, Smith said.

"We're not the FBI," he said. "But we want to be within the law. If someone comes in and the material seems unusual, we do make a note of it."

If police later show up, the salvage company cooperates and provides them with the information, he said.

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