Police have arrested a man accused of chopping up a downed aluminum light pole near H-1 Freeway's Pearl City off-ramp.

Responding to a call from a witness, officers arrived at about 10 p.m. Tuesday to find the man cutting and loading pieces of the pole into a pickup truck.

Police estimated the value of the pole and the damage done at about $2,000.

The man was arrested on suspicion of theft in the second-degree.

The alleged theft of the aluminum pole follows a rash of copper thefts.

While copper is the more valuable metal — local recycling companies are offering $2 to $2.70 a pound for copper compared to 45¢ to 55¢ a pound for aluminum — aluminum is often easier to find and not as closely guarded.

Police do not have statistics on individual aluminum or copper thefts. According to the state Transportation Department, six aluminum light poles were stolen in 2005, 10 in 2006 and two this year.

Each pole costs about $1,000 not counting labor, according to the DOT.

"You have to be really desperate to try to lug these things and get away with it for a very little amount of money," said Scott Ishikawa, DOT spokesman. "We had cases where a pole was knocked down in an accident and someone took it away before we recovered it."

The poles, which are about 30 feet high, are often sliced in half or into four pieces and loaded into trucks or vans.

The state immediately inspects downed poles to make sure no live wires are left that might electrocute people.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.