TUALATIN, Ore. --

Thieves stole a large amount of Verizon telephone cable, causing a service outage for about 900 customers, police said.

The thieves struck between midnight and 1 a.m. Wednesday, cutting down and stealing a large quantity of Verizon telephone cable in the 7000 block of SW McEwan Road, police said.

The thieves used what police called substantial tools to cleanly cut the very large 900 Pair cable.

About 180 feet of the 8-pound-per-foot 900 Pair cable was taken as well as about 60 feet of smaller 300 Pair cable.

Verizon line crews worked to restore service all day Wednesday, but they said it's a big job and they can't believe thieves went to such great lengths.

Randy Ray said that without all those tiny wires doing their job, he can't do his.

"Six o'clock in the morning, (I) noticed the phones were dead, no faxes," Ray said.

Ray works in plastics, and he's one of 900 people who lost phone service.

He said a full day of downtime could cost him $10,000.

"We're going to lose tons of money today just by not having orders and not communicating with customers," Ray said.

Verizon workers were amazed that thieves climbed a tree and used heavy duty tools to cut around the power lines and steal hundreds of feet of cable.

"These guys are pretty crazy. Climbing up here to cut this line, someone's going to get hurt," Scott Blyth said.

But Blyth thinks scrap yard owners could stop all of this.

"I know police don't have the manpower to watch these places, but if they didn't have somewhere to take it, the problem would be solved quite a bit," Blyth said.

The thieves were very lucky that they did not get badly injured during the theft and cutting of the cable because there was electricity running through some of it, police said.

Verizon representatives said about 900 customers -- business, residential and mobile -- were affected by the theft and it will take 36 to 48 hours before all service is restored.

Initial estimates of damage and loss were placed at $40,000 to $60,000, but because the location was near where the cable goes underground, the damages could be far greater, police said.

Anyone with information about the theft or who is responsible should call the Tualatin police at 503-691-4800.

Wire Theft Knocks Out Phone Service For 900