BANGOR, Maine — At least three Maine colleges are reporting the recent theft of catalytic converters from certain older-model cars parked in campus lots.
The recent rash of car part thefts is similar to that which occurred about a decade ago, when catalytic converters were being stolen because of the precious metals they contain — platinum, rhodium and palladium — which have a relatively high scrap value.
The University of Maine campus in Orono appears to have been hit hardest.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 22, the University of Maine Police Department received the first reports of catalytic converters missing from vehicles parked in several lots on campus. Ten reports have been filed with UMaine PD, UMaine spokesman Margaret Nagle said Friday.
The catalytic converters appear to have been cut or sawed off, she said. Nagle said that the vehicles that were hit were 1998-2004 models: six Hondas, two Acuras and two Chevrolet Cavaliers. The thefts are under investigation, she said.
Nagle said Friday that university police officers are conducting directed patrols in concentrated areas. Notice of the thefts was released to the UMaine community earlier this week, along with a request for community members to report any suspicious activity on campus.
Husson University in Bangor also had a catalytic converter stolen from a vehicle parked on campus, spokesman Eric Gordon said Friday. That theft occurred during the past week, he said. More specific details were not immediately available.
The Bangor Police Department also fielded complaints about two catalytic converter thefts that occurred in the parking lots of apartment buildings not far from Husson. However, specifics were not immediately available late Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Bowdoin College Office of Safety and Security issued an alert earlier this week about what officials there believe might be a related incident.
About 2:30 a.m. on Monday, a Bowdoin security officer on routine patrol interrupted what appeared to be a catalytic converter theft in progress at the Stowe House Inn upper parking lot, the alert said.
The officer found a student’s Honda jacked up with a racing jack but the thieves apparently fled when they saw the approaching security vehicle, leaving the vehicle’s catalytic converter intact.
“We have taken possession of the jack that was used, and we have notified the Brunswick police of this incident,” the campus security office said.
A high number of catalytic converter thefts prompted state legislators in 2008 to create a paper trail for people trying to sell them. The law requires scrap metal processors to “maintain an accurate and legible record of each scrap metal purchase transaction that exceeds 100 pounds or $50,” and that they pay sellers with checks to “maintain a record.”
The requirement has helped investigators track down possible thieves, police said at the time.