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Someone is stealing from kids. Last week, one school in Onalaska and two schools in Holmen reported that their aluminum can recycling cages had been raided.

At Irving Pertzsch Elementary in Onalaska, that could mean no Hilltopper-purple tulips, yellow daffodils or clematis to plant around school grounds.

Sometime last Wednesday night, someone raided the can cage at Pertzsch, emptying it of about $300 worth of cans. Because of that theft, students weren’t able to participate in Earth Day activities when they were going to make the purchase and do the plantings.

“That was rude and disrespectful to children,” Daniela Gatica said of the theft. “We needed that money.”

Gatica is a member of Lorie Peterson’s fourth-grade math class.

“The cage was pretty full,” Peterson said. “Three hundred dollars would have bought a lot of flowers. We had planned a planting and mulching day, but now we don’t have the money.”

“That was a bummer,” said Aricin Miller. “We were so close to getting the stuff we need for our planting.”

“Shame on them,” they all said.

It happened at Pertzsch and it is happening all over the area, including two schools in Holmen. According to police, the increasing price of metals is part of the reason those cages for can recycling dedicated to nonprofit causes are being raided.

According to Peterson, officer Dave Haack of the Onalaska Police Department told her there have been several recent thefts from can cages. There was a theft from the cage at Sam’s Club in broad daylight. Another cage for the Children’s Miracle Network was emptied.

Police reported last week a woman was stopped by police who said she was collecting cans set out by residents for regular recycling pick-up. According to the police report, she said she didn’t know she couldn’t pick them up if they were out on the curb or in alleys.

Some speculate the high price of food and gas might be a contributing factor to the rise in thefts. But another factor is the rising prices of metals.

“Metal prices are part of it,” said Dean Nugent, owner of D&M Recycling in Onalaska. “Recycling is up 5 percent to10 percent or more. But more people are also more tuned in to recycling now.”

Nugent said aluminum cans are fetching about 65 cents per pound for smaller volumes but higher volumes net another 10 to 20 cents a pound. The national average for recycling aluminum cans was approximately 98 cent per pound on April 25.

The entire metal market is seeing a lot of scrap metal being turned in due to the high prices. Copper is averaging $3.94 per pound. The national average for aluminum is at $1.337 while nickel is at $13.34 and lead is at $1.24.

Gold prices have been at record levels at more than $1,000 per Troy ounce, but have started to slip. On April 25, gold was trading at $887.20, down from a March high of $963.10 per Troy ounce.

“I don’t see a lot of theft,” Nugent said. “We get calls from police that someone’s copper wire has been stolen. We have no way of knowing what’s stolen and what’s not. Most thieves, if stealing locally, they’re selling out of town. It happens, even when the prices are lower. There’s thieves all the time. Right now, it’s just a little more lucrative for them.”

The theft of the cans from Pertzsch was announced to the students on Thursday and they were upset enough to do something about it. Peterson’s class is staging a CAN Challenge.

“The students said ‘Yes, we can,’” Peterson said. “So all next week we’re asking students and community members to bring in enough cans to replenish our supply.”

She said the cage has been modified to deter more thefts.

Peterson said students were upset enough on Friday after the announcement, they went home and told their families they needed to bring cans over to the school right away. “They ran home and told their moms, ‘We need these right now,’” Peterson said.

“Then they brought them right back to the school on Friday. The janitor was a little miffed that they were bringing the cans inside,” she said with a laugh. “But they’re safe in here.”

By Monday morning the cage was half full. Peterson’s students and others brought in 12 large bags of cans to add to the cage. Peterson is challenging other classes to bring in more than they did.

No matter when the cans come in, Peterson said, the funds from bringing them to the recycling will go towards environmental activities throughout the year.

Contact Jo Anne Killeen at joanne.killeen@lee.net or (608) 786-6816.