Vandals target Tesla chargers in Sunnyvale

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Vandals cut the cables on a bank of Tesla superchargers at a Sunnyvale Target over the weekend.

Capt. Dzanh Le of the Sunnyvale Police Department said of the 10 chargers in the lot, cables had been cut and stolen from eight.

"(The vandalism) was reported this morning. We're investigating it as a theft report. There's no graffiti or anything," Le said. "At this time it doesn't look like anything other than a theft of the wire."

Le said there was a similar incident in January at a tech company in northern Sunnyvale, where the thieves stole the wiring from 24 electric vehicle charging stations.

According to Recycling Today, EV charging station cables contain around 2.2 pounds of copper, which as of this report, is selling for $4.41 per pound.

The eight stolen cables contained around 17.6 pounds of copper, worth roughly $78.

Public dissatisfaction

The backstory:

EV chargers have been targeted by thieves and vandals for years, but Tesla products in particular have been targeted in recent months, due to dissatisfaction with company CEO Elon Musk.

As the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has been making headlines for, among other things, the mass dismissal of government employees and attempting to cut funding for USAID. He's also been the subject of intense scrutiny for boosting Germany's far-right party and for making what was widely condemned as a Nazi salute at Donald Trump's swearing in ceremony.

Tesla vehicles and chargers across the country have been damaged, and Tesla showrooms have been protested, all as part of a larger, mostly peaceful "Tesla Takedown" campaign intended to voice the growing unease over Musk's influence on the government, as well as the Trump administration's policies, which are closely associated with Musk and his company.

Attorney General Pam Bondi recently called attacks against the company "domestic terrorism," and said the Department of Justice has charged several suspected perpetrators in attacks, and "will continue investigations that impose severe consequences," against anyone involved in attacking the auto manufacturer.

Musk's deteriorating public standing, as well as President Trump's recently instituted auto tariffs have hit the auto manufacturer hard. Tesla's stock hit a high of $478 in mid-December, but have been falling since then, hovering around $230 over the last week.