Legislation introduced on Friday in the U.S. Senate seeks to curb cell phone theft, one of the fastest growing crimes nationwide, by increasing penalties for people who alter the devices’ unique identification numbers.

Cell phones were stolen in about one-quarter of the robberies in Dayton so far this year, and criminals target mobile devices because often they are the most valuable possessions people carry around, the Dayton Daily News reported in a May 12 article.

Cellular carriers can deactivate phones that are reported lost and stolen, and the major U.S. wireless companies are creating a national database of electronic serial numbers of stolen phones to prevent their reactivation through other carriers.