In downtown Los Angeles, the iconic Sixth Street Bridge, a project that cost federal and local taxpayers $588 million, is now completely dark at night. Since its grand opening in July 2022, thieves have systematically stripped away the lights, poles, and seven miles of wiring that illuminated the bridge’s arches. They stole the copper wiring for scrap metal, a petty crime that likely earned them only a fraction of its value.
In Windsor Village, a bronze bust of former Los Angeles City Council member Harold A. Henry recently disappeared from its pedestal, one of many metal statues stolen from city parks in 2024. Meanwhile, in Compton, robbers have looted a cemetery, taking grave markers. Just this week, the Gothic lamps on the 7th Street Bridge were stolen, leaving it “now dark and ugly,” according to reports from Esoteric.
These incidents are part of a widespread surge in metal thefts — a staggering 6,842 cases were reported across Los Angeles in 2023, costing residents more than $17 million in repair bills, a number that continues to rise.
“Thieves are literally picking our city for parts and selling them for scraps,” said City Council member Kevin de León at a press conference earlier this year. In response, the city has launched the Copper Wire Task Force, a collaboration between the LAPD and the Bureau of Street Lighting, aimed at stopping scrap metal thieves.
City Council member Traci Park of the Westside’s District 11 highlighted the broader impact of these thefts, noting that they “are putting lives at risk from disabled traffic signals.”
The absence of the celebrated ribbon of light that framed the Sixth Street Bridge adds an extra measure of public shame to this issue, reflecting a broader problem that affects both the city’s history and its skyline.
