Thieves target Ipswich sporting clubs for copper wire

Police are urging the Ipswich community to be vigilant after thieves targeted numerous sporting clubs for copper wire.

Numerous Ipswich sporting clubs have been left without power and unable to host events after thieves ripped kilometres of power cables out the ground and stole it.

Ipswich & West Moreton BMX Club, Raceview Soccer, Grange Road Soccer, Brothers Leagues and Ipswich Softball Association are among those targeted, with vandals visiting some clubs multiple times over several weeks.

BMX Club president Karley Bryce said members arrived at the track on Wednesday night to find their underground cables had disappeared and their track lights had no power.

“I know that the price of copper is at an all-time high at the moment, which is probably why they’ve taken it,” Ms Bryce said.

“They got around about two kilometres of cables. They cut it and dragged it out.”

She said in her five years with the club, Ms Bryce said it had never been targeted before like it was this week.

She said people had tried to break into their canteen and shipping containers over the holidays and also left graffiti, but taking the power cables was the most serious incident so far.

The club’s 300 members will now have no choice but to train and race during the day.

“We usually run sessions three nights a week,” Ms Bryce said.

“We’re going to try and run coaching a bit earlier (in the day), racing we have to scrap all together, and we’ll try and run a couple of gate sessions on a Sunday during the day.”

Ms Bryce said the fate of the club in the immediate future depended on whether the vandals would “come back and hit” them.

Ipswich & West Moreton BMX Club was one of several clubs targeted in a string of copper wire thefts across Ipswich in recent weeks. Picture: Rob Williams

While copper first disappeared from the BMX Club this week, Raceview Soccer Club has progressively lost power to its lights, canteen, and then toilet block over three weeks.

“Each week, they come and take something,” Raceview Soccer Club president Billy Diehm said.

“The first week, they stole a cable that gave us power to the toilet block.

“The second week, they came and took cable to half the lights.”

Mr Diehm said the club’s canteen had been running off a generator for three weeks, and its night-time matches had had to be postponed.

He said at a guess, hundreds of metres of cables had been stolen.

“We have 10 large light poles. There’s only five that work at the moment,” he said.

He said it was inconvenient but not a financial drain as the soccer club, like the BMX club, was on council-owned land.

“Every week, we come down to turn something on and it doesn’t turn on,” he said.

“You start to get nervous.

“I’m hoping that they stop and give us a break.”

Police said public and private properties had been specifically targeted for copper wire since October, with locations including sport clubs, energy infrastructure and private homes.

“Copper wire can be difficult to trace and highly valuable at second-hand recycling outlets,” Ipswich Police officer-in-charge Snr-Sgt Liz Burns-Hutchison said.

“Thieves may mistakenly think electrical wires are an easy target, but removing cabling is very dangerous for offenders, energy workers and the community.

“We also ask people who live or have businesses in Ipswich, to be vigilant with the security of their properties and to please report any suspicious activity they witness, including discarded electrical insulation.”

Police urged Ipswich residents and business owners to be vigilant with security and report any suspicious activity.

Ipswich City Council declined to comment on the thefts.