Local police departments say there has been a rise in catalytic converter thefts across the state.

Sean-Michael Green, who opened JDog Junk Removal & Hauling in Fairfield four months ago, says he put a dump truck with advertising in the parking lot of Home Depot Monday.

"We do junk removal and hauling all over lower Connecticut. We employ only veterans and their family members, and our goal is to try to help as many veterans in the community as possible - either with jobs or donations," says Green. "We try to park our dump truck in a public area. It's our best billboard. We want people to see it, we want people to know we're out there."

When Green came to pick it up Tuesday morning for a job - the truck made a loud noise. Thieves had cut out the truck's catalytic converter - something police across Connecticut and the country have seen a sharp rise in.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau attributes the surge to an increase in value of the precious metals in catalytic converters.

Fairfield police have reported 55 thefts so far this year, with 15 of them at the metro station. Stratford police estimate five to 10 thefts a month, and in Stamford, it's seven to 10 a month.

"We're a new company so we have a new insurance policy. We had to turn this into insurance because it did about $10,000 worth of damage," says Green.

Green says supply chain issues mean it'll be at least a month until the replacement parts come in.

"We're going to have to make alternative arrangements. We don't want to let the community down. We want to keep being able to serve people so we're going to find a way to do it but it's going to be without the use of this truck," says Green.

Local police say most of these thefts are happening in the middle of the night or early in the morning. They are investigating each one that comes in.

They ask the public to contact them with any information.