Thieves hit an area cell tower for copper wire.

The Saline County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the theft of a copper grounding plate at a cell tower located two miles west of Salina on Stimmel Road.

Deputies say the thieves cut the fence to gain access to the property owned by AT&T, then proceeded to cut grounding cables and removed $100 worth of copper sometime between the first of September and November 10th.

Damage is estimated at $1,900.

AT&T told deputies the copper plate is engraved with the message: “Stolen. Do not buy.”

The cell tower serves customers for AT&T, Nex-Tech Wireless, Sprint and U.S. Cellular.