PHOENIX — Copper theft has a significant impact on the community, not just due to its financial implications.

A copper thief can cut one fiber-optic line, causing an outage for an entire community, including emergency services, according to CenturyLink.

Silent Witness and CenturyLink have teamed up to combat the issue. Part of their joint effort is to increase awareness of how to recognize suspicious activity and signs of copper theft.

Many of the thefts take place in broad daylight. Thieves use their own trucks, marked with a sign for a fake repair company. They will wear work vests to create the illusion that they are legitimate and mark off areas with cones, and then dig up and steal fiber-optic cables.

CenturyLink representatives say the surge in copper theft is having an increasi

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