Two men were arrested Thursday for a kind of theft becoming all too common in Chilton County.

Johnathan David Brannon and John Thurston Drummond, both of Clanton, were arrested, charged with burglary third degree and attempted theft first degree, and are being held in the Chilton County Jail awaiting warrants to be signed, as of press time.

The Chilton County Sheriff’s Office received a call at 10:42 a.m. about a theft in progress at property that used to be a King’s Ranch center, off County Road 187 in the Mineral Springs community.

Using a description of the suspects’ vehicle, investigators made a traffic stop near the intersection of Yellowleaf Road and Friendship Road in Clanton and discovered items in the vehicle that matched those that were taken from the property.

The suspects allegedly had taken siding off an abandoned mobile home on the property and had cut down a power pole to try to remove copper from inside the attached transformer.

Chilton County Sheriff Kevin Davis said copper theft has become one of his department’s most significant problems.

“We have more reports of that type of theft than any other right now,” Davis said. “That has become the big issue that we have.”

Copper has become more valuable in recent years, and those wanting to earn a quick few bucks can sell the metal to any one of various scrap dealers.

Last week, the air conditioning unit—containing copper coils—was stolen from New Hope Baptist Church off County Road 42, Davis said.

Investigations are ongoing into both the church burglary and the case surrounding Thursday’s arrests.

Davis encouraged anyone that sees suspicious activity to call the sheriff’s office at 755-4698.

“If they’re out stealing copper at one place, chances are they’ve done it somewhere else,” he said. “It may be the very piece of the puzzle we’re looking for.”