Copper piping in a house behind the Crestwood Trailer Park in Hampden was cut out of the basement and stolen earlier this week.

“They went through some work to get it,” Hampden police Officer Joel Small said Friday.

The pipe theft and damage caused by its removal – anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 – was reported Thursday by the owner. The theft is believed to have happened sometime the night before.

Copper thefts have been on the rise as the price of the metal has increased, and the intent likely was not to damage the home but to sell the copper that was removed.

“It’s hard for me to even estimate [the copper’s value],” Small said.

After being open for more than three decades, the trailer park was closed last November as the result of a probate matter recently resolved in a Florida court.

Owner David Luce has workers who have been legally stripping the trailers, but the house is a separate incident.

No arrest has been made, and the copper theft remains under investigation.

In August 2006, Bangor resident Conor Dolan, 23, reported to police that he had been stabbed by an unknown man in an alley off Ohio Street, which he admitted on Tuesday was a lie. While police were investigating the stabbing, Dolan moved to another apartment in Bangor and officers were unable to locate him until recently.

Officers left a note at his new apartment and Dolan stopped by the police station for questioning on Tuesday, which is when he admitted that he conspired with a friend to stab him in the hand in an attempt to get pain medication, according to the police report.

He was summoned for false public report and is scheduled to appear before a 3rd District Court judge in Bangor on March 1.

– COMPILED BY BDN REPORTERS AIMEE DOLLOFF AND NOK-NOI HAUGER