$25K Worth Of Band Instruments Stolen From Anaheim Junior High School
ANAHEIM (CBS) — Thieves stole more than $25,000 worth of band instruments from an Orange County junior high school over the weekend, authorities said.
More than 20 tubas, baritones, saxophones, trumpets and drums were stolen from Sycamore Junior High sometime between Dec. 16 and Dec. 19, the Orange County Register reported.
The instruments were used for music classes and after hours programs.
School officials learned about the theft Monday morning after they discovered that the door to the music room had been pried open. Storage units inside the music room were also forced open and emptied.
Computers and other equipment in the music room were left untouched.
Earlier this month, several tubas, totaling $13,000, were stolen from a music room at South Gate High School.
Instrument thefts have also been reported at Compton Centennial and Huntington Park high schools, among others.
Some band leaders attribute the thefts to to Southern California's banda music craze and to the high prices the brass instruments fetch on the black market.
A new tuba can cost upwards of $5,000, while a used instrument can cost $2,000.
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