Northern Territory Police are on the hunt for copper thieves stripping wire from Alice Springs telecommunications pits to sell on the black market.
Police have received several reports since April of copper wire being stolen from two telecommunication pits between The Gap and Alice Springs Airport, disrupting services.
It is alleged hundreds of metres of copper wire have been pulled out, likely using a "large vehicle".
Police believe the wire is subsequently cut into smaller segments for sale.
The current market price for copper in Australia is about $14 per kilogram.
Southern Division Commander James Gray-Spence said the spate of thefts was valued in the "tens of thousands of dollars".
"But there's also then the interruption to services and the work that Telstra needs to do to repair the lines, which has an impact on the community," he said.
NT Southern Division Commander James Gray-Spence says police are investigating the copper thefts. (ABC Alice Springs: Lee Robinson)
'Thousands and thousands of dollars'
Michael Crook, the director of King Scrap Metal in Perth, said copper was "easy money" for thieves.
"They might only do a couple hours' work removing this cable from underground," he said.
"But the reward on it can be thousands and thousands of dollars."
Mr Crook said the thieves were likely doing "background work" during the day, such as cutting the cables in the junction boxes.
"Then they'll come back at night and remove the cable," he said.
Telstra says copper theft is an ongoing issue nationwide. (AAP Image: Joel Carrett)
Telstra said copper theft was an "ongoing issue" nationwide, adding some Alice Springs landline and payphone services may have been affected.
"The impact on customers can be significant if they are unable to contact assistance in the case of an emergency," a Telstra spokesperson said.
"We have been continuously conducting repair works."
NT Police say it's "too early to say" where the copper is being sold, and called for any witnesses to come forward.
Scrap yards cautious with copper
Mr Crook said many scrap yards were cautious when accepting copper.
"We won't take any copper unless [people bringing it in] have an issued driver's licence or a regular bill regarding that address," he said.
Scrap yards are wary of accepting copper cable. (ABC TV)
He said Telstra cable was clearly "copyrighted".
"They're not just like your everyday cable you can go to Bunnings and buy," he said.
"So when they bring in the copper, we tend to know where that cable has actually come from so we don't accept it."
However, Mr Crook said there was a growing trend of thieves melting the plastic off cables to leave only pure copper.
"Then you can't really distinguish where it's coming from," he said.
He said recent legislation had banned scrap metal dealers from accepting burnt copper.