While Cherokee County authorities look for thieves who stole dozens of manhole covers, Atlanta police early Thursday arrested three men in connection with similar crimes near the Georgia Dome.

Atlanta police received a 911 call around 1:30 a.m. "that possibly someone was dumping weapons into the storm drain, and they gave a description of a vehicle," Atlanta police Sgt. Richard Vasquez said.

John Spink / AJC

This manhole cover was replaced by the city of Atlanta at James P. Brawley and Carter streets after several men were arrested with a van full of manhole covers.

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Officers enroute to investigate spotted a maroon van matching the description of the suspect vehicle, and stopped the van at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and Northside Drive, just north of the Georgia Dome.

Inside the van, police found eight manhole covers and three manhole cover frames, Vasquez said.

The three men in the van were arrested and charged with interfering with government property and theft by receiving. The names of the suspects have not been released.

Vasquez said the covers had been removed from manholes in the area of James P. Brawley Drive and Carter Street.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office is investigating that county's stolen manhole covers and believes the thieves have a nefarious purpose: selling them for their cast iron.

Fifteen manhole covers were lifted Tuesday night, bringing the total to 28 since April 29. All were stolen in the Sixes Road and Ridge Road area.

Some were in subdivisions and others were along Holly Street, a fairly well-traveled road.

"It's not a prank," said Sgt. Jay Baker, the Sheriff's Office spokesman.

He said investigators believe it's a way to make quick cash at a metal recycling facility. Baker said one 110-pound manhole cover will bring about $15, but it can cost more than $200 to replace it.

Vasquez said his investigators had found nothing to link the three men arrested in Atlanta to the Cherokee County thefts.

In 2006, several manhole covers vanished from a Clayton County subdivision. "Manhole cover theft" even has its own Wikipedia entry, which says it is a serious problem in India and China.

The Cherokee County thieves' audacity took officials by surprise.

"It's so dangerous; they're opening up a hole in the middle of the road," said Dwight Turner, spokesman for the Cherokee County Water and Sewage Authority. "Somebody could fall in it. It's really crazy that anybody would do that."