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Tuba Thieves Strike Again Over Winter Break
Photo by thefost via the LAist Featured Photos pool
Some poor tuba players returned to school after a long winter break, only to find that they were victims of tuba thieves that struck again.Tubas have become a popular target for thieves, as banda music's popularity has grown. The tuba is a pricey but vital instrument of the genre providing that signature oompa bass line, but band instructors say the instruments cost as much as $5,000. They believe that thieves are stealing the tubas so they can sell them on the black market.
This Sunday thieves took four King sousaphones from Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, according to the Los Angeles Times. Other schools that have been targeted just this school year include Sycamore Junior High School in Anaheim, South Gate High School, Huntington Park High School, Centennial High School in Compton, and Jordan and Fremont high schools in Los Angeles.
"Our students are really, really upset," Principal Joe Carmona told the OC Register. "They don't understand how someone could do something like this to a school."
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