RENTON, Wash. — "This powers all of the sequoia trees in this whole bank," said Kelly Beymer. "The other portion that was taken and vandalized was across the lawn here. And that had the clam lights."
By Christmas morning they, too, were in the dark, something that Ivar's manager happened to discover.
"(I) noticed that approximately 7 a.m. that the lights and the cables (were) gone," said Beymer. "Called police and notified us."
Indeed, 40 percent of the lights were dark.
"It's really a shame," said Vicki Katz of Kirkland. "Everybody suffers from it. Sorry to hear about that."
"They want it bad enough," said Jayme Nation of Renton, "they don't care who they are stealing it from."
This isn't the first time the copper wire that powers Clam Lights has been stolen, however.
"We lost a number of cables before lights even went on," said Greg Scroh, Renton's facilities manager. "We had a theft earlier and that's what prompted us to put some cameras out here to keep an eye on things."
Now they are hoping the cameras will help them catch the thieves.
"We know that the City of Renton will definitely pursue every legal avenue possible and bring them to justice," said Beymer.
Parks employees worked all day Monday but they did get the "Clam Lights" back on.
Anyone who has information on the thefts is asked to call Renton police.