The great manhole theft: Who says Singapore has no crime?

These manhole covers don't look like much but they'll cost you S$200 or 15 weeks in prison. We said it earlier this week ... Singapore is a boring place. Even our crimes are boring.

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In the news today, two men -- Juraimy Mohamed Hashim, 36, and Abdul Rahim Ramli, 35 -- were sentenced to 15 weeks imprisonment for stealing 19 manhole covers from various locations around Singapore.

Yes, you read it right: manhole covers.

According to a report by The Straits Times, the duo had stolen covers to sell to an unknown man for an unspecified profit.

Each of the covers is said to be worth S$200 each. None has since been recovered

For their crimes, the pair were initially sentenced to five weeks in prison, but had their term trebled after appealing their case.

Clearly the presiding judge, Justice Chao Hick Tin, wasn't taking any nonsense that day.

According to Justice Chao, their offence was a serious one and of grave concern to public safety.

Sure we can see his point, and cyclists, motorists and blind drunk pedestrians will surely agree that missing manhole covers are an issue, but 15 weeks for stealing some?

Perhaps the judge was exercising severe caution, or perhaps he thinks the pair are part of a global syndicate?

In a report by the Washington newspaper the HeraldNet, more than 40 stormwater sewer covers have disappeared in recent weeks from the streets around south Snohomish County and other parts of the Puget Sound region.

A man from Redmond has since been arrested and believed to have sold more than 9.9 kilograms of storm drains and manhole covers to one scrap dealer, pocketing more than US$4,300 (S$5,300).

The report went on to detail crimes of a similar nature.  John Carpita, a public works consultant with the Municipal Research and Service Center of Washington, said that such crimes are "a very national problem and Washington is not immune to it."

Frankly, this is all just baffling news, it's not just at the nature of the crime that's perplexing but how the duo were found out.

Either way, to the police officers assigned to this case you may want to check in here at some point.