TRENTON — "Trenton Makes The World Takes" still glows red across the Delaware River every night, though the factories that inspired the slogan are long gone.

People are still taking from the city, though.

The increasingly public theft of copper and other metals throughout Trenton is causing growing frustration with both public officials and residents. Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Trenton) introduced a bill Monday in an attempt to curtail the trend, and State Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Lawrence) in January introduced a modified version of a bill that passed both houses last year, but Gov. Chris Christie vetoed in September.

“It’s like the sign says, ‘Welcome to Historic Trenton. If you see something you like, take it,’” said the Rev. John R. Allen, pastor of First Presbyterian Church on East State Street. “It used to be one of the most beautiful cities in America, and now it’s stripped clean.”

Gusciora is using the damage at First Presbyterian as a rallying point.

Allen said thieves sawed off brass railings leading up the steps to the church, as well as the building’s gutters and downspouts. Three plaques memorializing those interred on the church’s ground have also gone missing, he said, as well as the plaque from the tombstone of Col. Johann Rall, commander of the Hessian troops who died in the Battle of Trenton.

Allen called all scrap yards within 25 miles after the plaques disappeared, he said, offering to buy them back, no questions asked.

He never found them.

Gusciora’s proposed bill would prevent scrap-metal purchasers from buying historical markers, grave markers, burial vases or any other religious relics or memorials for members of the Armed Forces.

“I think it’s obvious where it’s coming from and they should be prohibited from accepting that kind of material,” Gusciora said. “This would actually allow law enforcement to crack down on scrappers if the governor’s not going to require them to keep records.”

Last year’s attempted legislation would have required purchasers of scrap metal to maintain records of all purchases, regardless of the weight or amount, for at least five years and send that information to law enforcement at the end of each business day. It would also require all deliveries to be made by car and regulated the payment of sellers.

It passed the Assembly, 48-21, and the Senate, 37-1.

Christie gave it an absolute veto, calling it a “laudable objective,” but citing an increased burden on legitimate businesses. Scrap-metal businesses now must maintain records of any purchases in excess of 100 pounds or $50 for at least five years.

Turner’s new bill, working its way now through the Senate, would require records to be maintained, regardless of weight or amount, for 18 months.

“That,” she said, “more or less was a compromise.”

Gusciora has firsthand experience with copper theft.

Last July, two weeks before he moved into the Hiltonia section of Trenton, he said someone broke into the empty home and stole copper pipes. The move of his legislative offices on West State Street was delayed two weeks because of theft of copper pipes, he said.

Insurance covered repairs in both instances, though that is not always the case in the city.

“It adds to urban decay,” Gusciora said. “It makes it difficult to sell. These houses sit empty in need of repair and it just spirals from there.”

The vacant former home of Bank of America on East State Street saw its roof — valued at $75,000, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office — picked nearly clean over the past year. Five arrests were made in relation to the theft in the past two months.

Mark Dunlap, whose office at the Motor Vehicle Division overlooks the building, said the theft started with a standalone air-conditioning unit, advanced to the lower roof covering the bank's drive-through, then the main roof.

Police are searching for an unidentified white man who on Tuesday and Wednesday allegedly stole copper and brass mailbox slots from residential doors on Clay Street in Mill Hill, Lt. Mark Kieffer said. He was caught on camera once, shortly after midnight.

Someone allegedly attempting to steal copper pipes from a vacant home on Beatty Street last September inadvertently caused a gas explosion that damaged three homes.

“All of these things really destroy the quality of life that people need to enjoy their community,” Turner said.

Gusciora put the onus on Attorney General John Hoffman to enforce laws regarding the sale and purchase of stolen goods. Turner questioned why Christie absolutely vetoed her bill.

“Generally speaking,” the Office of the Attorney General said, “thefts of this magnitude are typically handled by local police and prosecuted by the county. State Police are in the city and have a unit dedicated to these types of thefts.”

Gusciora, Turner and residents who spoke on the issue were all quick to point out Trenton Police has more pressing issues at hand.

“It really is a community issue,” said Christian Martin, executive director of the Trenton Downtown Association. “We do our best to maintain a clean, safe and presentable business district, and it’s demoralizing when you show up to work and another piece of the city’s history has been ripped off.”

Contact Steven Miller at smiller@njtimes.com or (609)989-5673.

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