More than 2,500 properties have suffered “significant disruption” after cable theft in a Lincolnshire village left residents without phone and Internet services.

As reported by the BBC, thieves targeted Moulton Chapel, a village four miles from Spalding, on Monday morning (January 19) at around 8:50am GMT.

The incident is being investigated by Lincolnshire Police, with UK broadband provider Openreach working to restore services in the village where around 3,500 people live.

“We’re disappointed that residents in Moulton Chapel have borne the brunt of malicious damage and theft of cables from our phone and broadband network,” said Openreach in a statement.

“This causes significant disruption to everyday lives and puts vulnerable people at risk.”

The incident has left some residents and businesses without Internet services.

Openreach is no stranger to such incidents, with the company suffering several outages due to the theft of its cables in recent years.

Copper thefts have left various parts of the UK temporarily offline in recent years, including parts of Durham, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, North Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Essex, Shropshire, and beyond.

Openreach, which operates the UK’s copper network, has been deploying anti-theft technology to prevent the rise in copper cable theft. It reported a 30 percent decrease in cable theft after deploying forensic tracking technology, SelectaDNA, but material already in the ground doesn’t benefit.

The company is in the midst of shutting down its copper network, which is due to turn off in 2027, as Openreach continues to deploy its fiber network. It is on course to reach 25 million premises by the end of this year.