A highly-oranised gang of roaming copper bandits has stolen one thousand metres of high grade Eircom phone lines.
More than €10,000 of cabling has been stolen in biggest raid to date.
The raid, which took place at four different locations, happened last weekend.
In what is one of the most serious attack ever on the communications system in Donegal, cable worth more than €10,000 was taken on the Milford to Carrigart road at four different locations.
The robbery is the latest but most serious incident which has seen copper cabling stolen on at least a DOZEN different occasions over the past four years.
Eircom engineers told the Tirconail Tribune that sophisticated cutting equipment would have taken hours to cut down the cabling.
In one instance close to Cranford some 500 metres was taken: further down the road 250 metres were cut out and a stay across the road to stabilise the system was also slashed to pieces in what is described as a highly dangerous operation for any passing motorists.
Elsewhere near Sweeney’s Filling Station at Devlinreagh a further 100 metres was removed while close to the junction with the road into the Harry Blaney Bridge a further 150 metres was taken.
Eircom officials say this is the most serious incident yet and phone subscribers are struggling in many isolated areas to keep in touch with their families.
There had been a noted decline in cable theft but this returned in July with another spate of robberies.
A total of 1,500 metres of cable was taken during different raids at a number of locations including, Fanad, Drumbarnett, Glenveagh, Drumkeen, Mongorry Hill and Rahan on the outskirts of Letterkenny.
Only a year earlier the copper bandits struck three times in four days
in the community in Fanad.
While it is claimed there is an active Garda operation ongoing, the
public seems not to be aware of this and the thefts continue unabated.
Some now are questioning the extent of the investigation as more and more people continue to find themselves cut off for periods of time because of the thefts.