Copper is valuable when melted down and there are many thieves which steal it and sell it to scrap yards.

If I go in to a public park at 2 a.m. and pee against a wall. I'll likely get cited for public urination. Someone - somehow - will see me do it.

But, someone can pry a heavy metal plaque off of a stone monument and make off with it...and no one sees anything? Even in the middle of the night?

Two things:

1. The plaque looks like it was held in place by only a few bolts. Knowing that this plaque might be more vulnerable to vandalism due to the subject matter, they should have installed it with glue, grout, brackets and bolts that would make it unremovable without destroying the whole thing. It looks as if someone could have merely lifted the plate off of the stone part by hand in just a few seconds. The design should make it hard to remove so there is more opportunity for the culprits to get caught.

2. Given the subject matter, and the fact that Manhattan Beach is a super rich enclave, a surveillance camera should be deployed to get better evidence of hate crimes. Even a fake camera as a deterrent would help.

Now that Cat Converters are difficult to fence, they turn back to traditional sources.

Anything that's not nailed down will be taken.

Metal scrappers really have a lot to answer for - they know that a copper plaque isn't scrap.

I'm skeptical that metal thieves are motivated by racial animus. They're more motivated by money and fentanyl.

either depict white folks or celebrate things that have nothing to do with black folks. It's just a darn coincidence these thieves just happen to coincidentally pick these particular monuments. Is it possible? Sure. But why wouldn't thieves at least take an arm or a leg? Go through all that work, for what?

>sarcasm<