A homeless man accused of stealing two aircraft warning lights off the top of the Zakim Bridge is facing larceny charges and has been ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation, police say.

Clifford W. Beckford Jr., 34, who is believed to be homeless and living out of a car, was arrested last night near a relative’s home in Melrose, according to state police.

Beckford is accused of breaking into the bridge’s south tower at 9 p.m. on Feb. 3 and removing a 3-foot-tall, 60-pound light. Beckford allegedly stashed the light in a snowbank next to Route 93 and later returned to retrieve it with his car, state police said.

Following Beckford’s arrest, the missing beacon was recovered from the basement of the Warren Tavern in Charlestown, where the manager told police an employee brought it inside after finding it abandoned outside in the snow.

“The purpose of the beacons installed at the top of the Zakim towers are to allow aircraft to easily see the location of the towers,” state police wrote in a release. “Because of the nature of the crime, troopers assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force became involved in the investigation. We have determined that Beckford was not attempting to commit a terrorist act, probe the bridge’s security system, or cause an aircraft to hit the tower.”

Beckford was arraigned today in Boston Municipal Court on charges of breaking and entering a building during the nighttime to commit a felony, larceny from a building, receiving stolen property, malicious destruction of property valued above $250, committing injury to a bridge and defacement of property.

This wasn’t the first time Beckford stole one of the bridge’s beacons, police said. He allegedly broke into the bridge while it was under construction in the early 2000s, stole one of the massive lights and anonymously left it outside of The Bostonian Society, which operates the Old State House Museum.

Following his arraignment today, Beckford was ordered to undergo a 20-day mental health evaluation.

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