BOSTON (CBS) – Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley wants to put an end to a booming illegal business in the Commonwealth – copper thefts.

Homes have been ransacked by thieves looking for the precious metal so they can sell it to salvage yards for an easy profit.

"We've been concerned for a long time that copper stripping, when properties are abandoned, sometimes even when they're vacant pending sale, is a very attractive item because it's so expensive right now," Coakley told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Tuesday.

"And the ability for folks to strip the copper and sell it at a high price makes the property potentially dangerous, for instance, if it's a gas leak or a fire leak, but it also diminishes the property."

Coakley said she's working with the Legislature to set up a registry of metals in Massachusetts, similar to what they have in Rhode Island, so it would be harder for people to "pawn this precious metal."

If it's already illegal to steal the metal, what would a registry do to stop, or even slow down, the thieves?

"This bill would aim to address the illegal stripping and selling by requiring people who traffic in that, who basically sell those metals, to keep better records," Coakley said.

The attorney general said it's difficult to keep track of the copper because it's often sold at several salvage yards in small bits.

"Presumably they could be charged with knowingly receiving stolen property, but that's an old statute. It's hard to enforce, it's hard to prove the knowledge that you have to."