A flood of license plate thefts -- 25 in total -- have taken place at A-Lot and Webster Avenue since the beginning of the term, and many students believe that the thief is motivated by a desire to collect all 50 states' license plates.
According to Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaccone, several frontside license plates have been reported stolen from cars parked at A-Lot and Webster Avenue since the beginning of October.
Although students have reported these incidents to both Safety and Security and the Hanover police, "there have been no leads and no current suspects," Giaccone said.
Giaccone explained that the Hanover Police officers frequently patrol A-Lot and Webster Avenue, though not for any set amount of time. Even after the recent thefts, Giaccone said that there has not been any increase in security for these two areas.
Safety and Security declined to comment on the situation.
Sue Roy '03 noticed that among many cars in the parking lot of Alpha Xi Delta sorority last Friday, only her license plate was missing. Roy said she could not understand why someone would take her Massachusetts license plate -- unless the thief was aiming to collect tags from all 50 states.
Roy recently found out that a friend from her skating class had her South Carolina license plate stolen, but initially thought that her own license plate would not be in danger, given the relative availability of Massachusetts tags.
Since only her car -- among many parked in the AXD lot -- had its license plate stolen, Roy speculated that the robber was probably motivated by a desire for a specific state's plate rather than for license plates in general.
Last Spring term, similar instances of theft occurred on Webster Avenue.
Kirtley Nakarado '03, house manager at Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority at the time, recalled that six or seven out-of-state license plates were stolen from the house's lot.
However, "many people didn't notice for about a week or two, because the stolen plates were all from the front of the cars. Everyone realized their plates had been stolen at different times after they had heard that someone else's had been taken," Nakarado said.
After her old plate was stolen, Nakarado explained that she made sure to attach the new one with a different type of screw that would make the plate more difficult to remove.
Pat Granfield '03, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity during last spring term, recalled that four or five rearside license plates were stolen overnight. He said that all the exotic plates from non-common states such as Oklahoma and Alaska were stolen.
"I think someone did it for his [own] collection. I doubt that a student stole the plates. I think it's more likely to be a resident," Granfield said.
Granfield said the house had a motion detector installed at the time, but it did not help find the burglar.
However, Granfield said that he appreciated all the work that Safety and Security does. "I understand that it is hard to track down a suspect," he added.
Greg Brown '03, a brother at the house, commented that it "is hard to combat a cowardly and juvenile crime like this. This is not a victimless crime. I had to drive across the country with a cardboard license plate, and a lot of people asked me if it was my real Tennessee state-issued plate."
