Maybe, but these thieves might do more damage than just needing to replace the phone. Some of them will attempt to use the information on it for extortion or blackmail (which is why such a feature exists in the first place).
How many thefts, by a single individual, is tolerable before society is allowed to remove the threat with permanence? Ten? A hundred? A thousand?
Some would answer one, single instance is enough for a weapons discharge. I would ask. How many times is allowable?
The criminal has no care for society, or its lives, so why should society care about that life?
Every life is sacred? Why?