I’m one of the thousands of car owners whose catalytic converters will be stolen this year. Why this is happening and what to do about it?

One of the most unique features of hybrid cars, like the Toyota Prius that I drive, is that it starts and runs so quietly that you barely know it’s running. A couple of weeks ago, that quiet in my car became a quake, a loud violent rumbling that sounded like a truck engine having a coughing fit. “It’s a bomb!” screamed my son, who may have watched too many John Grisham movies over my shoulder. Confused, but sure, at least, that it was not a bomb, I turned it off and back on again. More rumbling. It was so loud that it caught the attention of a kind man loading a moving truck a few parking spaces away.