KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Creative thieves are now tapping into the beer market to make some money, police said.

Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City puts stickers on their kegs, asking customers to return them. But that hasn't stopped thieves from stealing them, selling them to scrap yards for $30 each, police said.

With the price of steel going up in the past year, so have the number of keg thefts.

Boulevard buys its kegs new for $150 each, making the container much more valuable than the beer it holds.

"It's our single biggest expense, when you do 150,000 kegs a year at $150 a keg, that's a lot of money for a little company like us," said Chief Operating Officer Steve Mills.

Starting Thursday, it became illegal for Missouri scrapyards to buy kegs from anyone but a brewer. In Kansas, it's up to the individual scrapyard.