Scooter license plates with local designs targeted by thieves

SAITAMA, Japan - License plates for scooters featuring characters adopted as municipal symbols have been targeted by thieves in eastern Japan, with some 350 cases reported this year in Saitama and Chiba prefectures near Tokyo.Investigators suspect the plates may have been sold to collectors overseas. A couple arrested in August on suspicion of stealing one license plate is suspected of involvement in a number of other cases as well.In Misato, Saitama Prefecture, 80 license plates with designs featuring a character based on the grebe, a bird the city has adopted as its symbol, were reissued…READ FULL ARTICLE