RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - “They went in and just with pure vandalism cut the cables off,” said Mike Marcum, the IT Director at the Reno-Aiden.

On Aug. 17, the Reno-Aiden noticed the cables on their electric vehicle charging station were cut. The station sits in their parking lot on South Virginia. Now, those charging stations are unusable.

Marcum says it will take several weeks to get the cables fixed.

“Right now, there’s a waiting list because we’re not the only person experiencing this,” he said.

A charging station at the Meadowood Mall and one near the Legends in Sparks met the same fate. Still another, at Kietzke and South McCarran, was chopped off.

“[It’s] insulated, shielded and designed to be incredibly durable. So, it would be like cutting through a large cable or a large power line,” explained Marcum.

He says a specialist needs to be called in to make the repairs and it won’t be cheap.

“This is going to cost us, I believe $1,300 when it’s all said and done,” Marcum said.

The Reno-Aiden filed a police report, but KOLO 8 News Now has yet to hear back from the Reno Police Department about the investigation.

Authorities in California say they too have seen this trend with EV chargers. They say often times thieves sell the stolen cables to scrap metal yards.

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