Four solar panels stolen off the roof of the Colorado Rocky Mountain School outside of Carbondale indicate a bigger and growing problem with theft.

California, the largest solar market in the U.S., has seen sharp increases in reported solar panel thefts, according to a report in the New York Times. Solar panels are often stolen from the roofs of businesses and residences and then sold online. Experts tend to agree that those who pilfer solar panels are not typically doing so out of concern for their own carbon footprints but because the panels are valuable. They often end up online, according to the Times article.

The theft over the weekend in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley is just one of several recent thefts.

Panels were stolen from the roof of the Carbondale Community and Recreation Center in May, 2009, according an article in the local Sopris Sun newspaper. And more recently, four panels were stolen from the Clean Energy Collective in El Jebel, Colo. That happened this past fall.

“There were four panels stolen from CRMS and four stolen from here,” said Lauren Martindale, spokeswoman for the Collective. “It’s definitely an issue. I mean, we have half a million dollars just sitting out here by the highway.”

The collective put a fence around the facility, which is also within a private, gated community. But it wasn’t enough to deter thieves.

Martindale said the thieves recently returned to steal more of the panels, which are individually owned by community members. But the collective set its system on an alarm after the first incident. When the alarm sounded, it scared the criminals away before they could finish the job.

The theft at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School has made big news in the valley because some say it’s not just a simple theft, but a theft from the community. The installation of the solar project there involved many parties coming together in a cohesive community effort to bring green technology to the valley, according to a Sopris Sun report.

Aspen Ski Company owns the project, though it’s on the roof of the school and will be turned over to CRMS at the end of a 20-year contract. The town of Carbondale, Sunsense, the Community Office for Resource Efficiency, Garfield County, and Xcel Energy all contributed to the system, which produces 147 kilowatts of power.

Pictured: CRMS’ solar array before the theft. Image courtesy of Sunsense Solar.