> Evererything is a standard exchange of good/services, weallth is only moved

In the example above, a manhole cover had been created talking raw resources and converting it into a manhole cover which has a value (what someone is willing to pay) above the cost of production and cost of resources. This created wealth.

Melting it down reduced it to the resources again and resulted in money for the thief but an overall loss of total wealth. Wealth was destroyed.