Copper thieves struck again Saturday, ripping out more than 8,000 feet of copper wiring from lights along H-2 Freeway.

The copper wire, valued at $24,000, connected 11 street lamps on H-2 near the Wai'anae exit, according to police and the state Department of Transportation. Police opened a second-degree theft case.

"We're providing what we know to police as part of their investigation," said Scott Ishikawa, Department of Transportation spokesman. "We are encouraging the public to notify authorities if they see anything suspicious along our roadways. This is the only way we can catch people in the act."

Witnesses gave police the license plate number of a van seen in the area where the thefts occurred. Detectives traced the van to a home on Waimano Home Road in Pearl City.

A tow truck driver saw the van and three occupants on the side of the road about mid-morning and told a construction crew working in the area. The crew reportedly witnessed the theft and passed the information, including the van's license plate number, on to police.

Officers searched the Pearl City home and van and recovered about 200 feet of copper wire, police said.

No arrests had been made as of yesterday afternoon; the case is still under investigation, police said.

Last month, the Transportation Department filed three police reports of copper thefts, including a Jan. 30 report that thieves darkened a stretch of Nimitz and Kamehameha highways near the airport by stealing the copper wire that connects street lights.

Since May 2006, copper thieves have caused an estimated $320,000 in damage to freeways along the Central and West O'ahu corridor, ripping out wiring from about 100 light fixtures and leaving stretches of darkness, primarily in these areas: