Thieves in Kentucky county targeting barn wood and reselling to flooring manufacturers

Thieves have been known to target scrap metals, especially copper, in an attempt to turn a fast buck. But a south-central Kentucky county is dealing with repeated thefts of barn wood, which has become a hot commodity in home decor, Deborah Highland reports for the Bowling Green Daily News. So far, three barns have been targeted in Barren County, including one instance in which thieves ripped an entire side off a barn.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Deputy Mike Houchens told Highland, “They are taking the lumber on the outside of the barn and reselling to flooring manufacturers. . . . Sooner or later we would hope, since they are pretty much dismantling barns, that somebody is going to catch them doing that. This takes manual labor and takes time to do so." (Read more)