They’ll walk off with anything

Losses from construction site theft amount to billions of dollars every year and involve home building, commercial construction and public-works programs. The pilfered wares include building materials such as steel, lumber, insulation and siding, newly installed home appliances, tools and heavy equipment.

In residential construction alone, theft of materials and appliances, and the damage caused during the course of those crimes, ranges from $1 billion to $2 billion annually, according to the National Assn. of Home Builders. That’s enough to push the prices of new homes up 1% to 2% every year.

Thefts of heavy equipment such as bulldozers and backhoes cost the industry $300 million to $1 billion a year -- only 10% of which is ever recovered, according to the National Equipment Register, a for-profit company funded by the insurance industry that tracks equipment theft.

“Everywhere you go, you will find equipment left alone, unattended, and many job sites are just not secure,” said Adam Gurzynski, an equipment analyst with the register.

“Sometimes [thieves] just hook up and go,” he said, absconding with machinery as well as the trailer it sits on.