Streetlights guide the way for traffic in Tucson, Arizona, in this file photo. A rise in copper wire thefts from lights on some state roadways across the country is creating hazards for motorists and headaches for transportation departments.
David Tubb puts a sticker on the base of a streetlight in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where new aluminum wiring was installed last year. The city lost 33 miles of streetlight wiring to thieves stealing copper wire.