Cutting one's conection

Living in Brazil presents us some thrills from time to time. Like having landline phone and ADSL cut suddenly for no aparent reason at all, as it happened to me sometime around midnight from friday to saturday. Unable to call the Telco's call center, I grinned and waited (sleeping) till 08:00am to be able to complain to them. What I did then went off to classes. That's when I found out why I lost communtication:

When they cut your connection off, they really mean it. With a saw;)
Some blessed soul(s) took about 30m of copper wire, probably with the intent to melt it and sell as scrap metal.
I've heard about various of such occurrences in the poor neighborhoods around the city I live in, but never saw :) it with my eyes, until now.