Signs of Spring in St. Louis: Ted Drewes, Cardinals Baseball and Brick Thieves

The days are getting longer and warmer. Perfect time to work in the garden, take in a ball game, eat ice cream and participate in that oh-so-St-Louis activity, brick rustlin'.

As preservationist Michael Allen reports in his blog Ecology of Absence, the brick thieves are out of hibernation and making short work of an abandoned home on Maiden Lane near the intersection of Jefferson and Cass avenues. The house, according to Allen, is owned by McEagle Properties -- a development company that has acquired hundreds of north St. Louis lots and buildings.

Allen notes that it's strange that brick thieves have evaded detection from authorities on this particular property, seeing how the home's "west wall faces out at busy Jefferson Avenue, not far from the police station.

"In the middle of a flagging economy, brick theft could be elevated this summer," warns Allen. "It's time for all of us to get tough -- city government, police and neighbors...Let's hope this summer does not see a wave of destruction like the ones that hit the north side in the past two years."

Click here to for chronological photos documenting the destruction and looting of brick from the home.