WILKES BARRE -- Contractors in Wilkes Barre are having an unusual problem: people are stealing their sand bags.
Workers with Leeward Construction Company and PennDOT say it was over the past two weeks that they noticed 15 to 20 of their sandbags disappeared from the bottom of construction signs near the West Sidney Street bridge project.
“No one knows what they’re using them for," said Sal Ventrelli, PennDOT. "It's kind of curious why anyone would want to steal a sandbag."
Ventrelli said he's seen people steal computers and scrap metal from construction sites before, and even knock over portable toilets and signs, but never something like this.
Each bag filled with sand costs about $20.
"The contractor will get a load of sand and then he’ll buy these bags that cost 10 or 20 cents a piece and fill the bags a piece," Ventrelli added. "So it’s a matter of labor."
While the bags aren't too expensive, PennDOT representatives said it's a safety issue for workers and drivers near the bridge project site on West Sidney Street.
“In one case, we did have a heavy wind and one of our signs blown over," Ventrelli explained. "The danger is it will fall on somebody or a vehicle.”
David Sienkiewicz has lived in the area most of his life, and says while the thefts worry him a little, he doesn't think it's anything more than just a bunch of kids.
“I guess there is a first time for everything,” Sienkiewicz said.
Anyone who has information on the thefts is asked to call Wilkes Barre Police.
The bridge project is expected to wrap up next August after work that's lasted for more than two years.
