Wichita ? Apparently tempted by high prices for scrap metal, thieves have been grabbing old motor vehicles from streets and empty lots and selling them to a salvage company, Wichita police said in announcing the arrests of two suspects.

The men are believed to have stolen more than two dozen such vehicles since early September. They created phony bills of sale before hauling the vehicles to Aaron’s Auto Recycling, where they sold them for cash, police said.

“We’re not sure how long it’s been going on,” police Capt. Darrell Haynes said.

Kansas Highway Patrol and the Kansas Department of Revenue worked with Wichita police on the case, Haynes said. The thieves went for cars it seemed no one would miss, such as those with flat tires or no engines.

Police are checking to see how many other stolen cars might have been sold to Aaron’s, Haynes said, and they’ll be checking other metal recycling businesses in the city to see whether the practice has become widespread.

Tim Michael, manager of Aaron’s Auto Recycling, defended his company’s handling of the transactions, noting that the phony bill of sale on one such vehicle led to the arrests.

Among the victims was Holy Savior Catholic Academy in northeast Wichita.

The thieves made off with a donated car that the school planned to sell to help pay tuition for students in need. Also stolen was a donated van that was destined for a single mother with six children, three of whom have special needs.

Police said officers found both vehicles stacked with other scrap cars at the salvage yard. Both were no longer usable.

“The salvage yard gave us $125 for both of them,” said the Rev. Tom Malone, pastor of Holy Savior Catholic Church. “We’ll take it and run.”

Authorities were tipped to the scam by a man who called Aaron’s and asked them to be on the lookout for his 1958 Buick, which had recently been stolen. When the manager advised him the car was already there, the man went down to get it.

He then learned that two men who had brought the car in would probably be back soon with another vehicle. Police were notified, and the suspects were arrested when they returned to Aaron’s driving a stolen car that was towing a second stolen car.

Police checked the identification numbers of vehicles that had been brought in by the suspects, Haynes said, and found that they had been stolen. Several other vehicles brought in by the suspects have already been sold for scrap – at $100 to $130 a car – and “are long gone,” Haynes said.

The thieves were likely motivated by lucrative prices now paid for scrap metal, Haynes said. Junk cars that once brought $25 apiece are now bringing $125 each, as the economic expansion of China and India has created a larger demand for steel.