O’FALLON, MO (KMOX) - Police in O’Fallon, Missouri are turning to the public for help solving a series of burglaries at vacant homes.

The homes are being targeted by scrap metal thieves who are taking copper pipes from the basement of each home. Police say over the past month, at least five vacant houses throughout the city have been broken into and their copper pipes removed.

“We happened to have two that were on the same street but, other than that, they’re not all in the same vicinity,” Officer Diana Damke explained. She says similar break-ins have been reported in St. Peters.

Police are asking residents to be more observant and write down important information like a license plate number or suspect description if they see any suspicious activity, then call it in to the O’Fallon, Missouri Police Department.

Damke says investigators don’t know yet if the break-ins are the work of the same suspects.