THIEVES have stolen four brass plaques from the Mt Henry Bridge.

The plaques were installed soon after the bridge’s opening in 1982, and would nominally be worth a few quid as scrap metal. They provided information about the construction of the bridge, which at 660 metres long is WA’s longest.

Brass, bronze and copper plaques have become a target for thieves in the past couple of years, lured by the spike in their scrap value. Copper (the main ingredient of bronze) tripled in value before coming off the boil recently, although its current value of $4.50kg is still well over its long-term value and the US Geological Survey is predicting another peak with global demand outstripping supply.

Three months ago thieves pinched 40 brass memorial plaques from Mandurah, and a month before that, 111 were taken from a Footscray war memorial, enraging the RSL.

Fremantle Cemetery hasn’t been targeted by thieves recently, says board spokesperson Andrew Fox. But he says chipping off a plaque more often than not turns out to be a pyrrhic victory, as a gang of “fools” discovered a few years back when they broke into a compound and stole plaques which had been set aside because of spelling mistakes.

“It’s a bit pointless, as you have to find someone to melt them down,” Mr Fox said.

“It has to get really hot, and it’s a slow, slow process.

“There’s only a handful of smelters in Perth, and if you turn up with an armful of plaques, it’s going to raise their suspicions and they’re alert to it.”
Mr Fox said when the thieves who’d targeted Fremantle cemetery tried to sell the plaques, police were alerted and they were all charged.

He says since then the cemetery has been warehousing mis-spelled plaques before selling them for recycling. Proceeds go to the Cancer Council.

Main Roads told eagle-eyed Herald reader Tony Liddell (who alerted us) it was investigating the thefts and was yet to decide whether to replace the plaques.

by STEVE GRANT