"The Wire:" Builders of Rose Parade float say that's what vandals stole in copper theft

(CBS) PASADENA, Calif. - The Tournament of Roses parade is still more than two months away but one float in the annual New Year's Day procession has suffered a costly setback.

Vandals stole thousands of dollars of equipment, including plentiful copper wiring, from the construction site of a float from the La Cañada-Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association, CBS Los Angeles reported.

According to Jim Geoghgan, a long-standing volunteer with the group, the thieves broke in through a gate Saturday night, forced their way into a tool trailer, and then used the group's own bolt cutters to clean them out of power cords.

Geoghan told the station the thieves took 220-volt copper extension cords about 2.5 inches thick, leading him to suspect they were after the copper wiring.

In all, an estimated $7,000 in equipment is believed to have been stolen, Geoghgan said.

"It makes me mad," he told CBS Los Angeles. "It's not like we are a company making money...we barely make [sic] even."

While no wiring was stolen from the float itself, replacing what was taken could set the group's efforts back by several weeks.

The station reported the float's theme is "Dog Gone," about a dog's dream to run away from the dog-catcher.

Wait for it...until New Year's Day.