http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories ... 7d96a.htmlEVERETT, Wash. - Snohomish County Sheriff's deputies are investigating an apparent act of vandalism that toppled two radio station towers early Friday morning.
The towers, owned by station KRKO and known as North Sound 1380, are located on Short School Road and 129th St. SE in the Lord's Hill valley in Snohomish County.
Callers to KING 5 News say the towers came down at about 3 a.m.
Video from news helicopters show the two towers on crumpled and stretched out on the ground. There is a front-end loader or back hoe near one of towers.
"They used it to pull the main leg of the tower down," Andy Skotdal, president and general manager of KRKO, told KING5 News. "There is a sign at the scene that I haven't seen, but apparently says ELF (Earth Liberation Front) on it. Whether it really was ELF who knows."
The towers have been at the center of controversy for years. There are four towers currently at the location and there have been plans to build two more towers. Opponents have claimed that AM radio waves can harm people and wildlife.
More recently, nearby residents claim radio signals coming over home phone and intercom lines have increased since KRKO recently boosted its broadcasting power.
"There's been an opponent group that's fought this project for eight years and they've lost seven times in various courts and it's typical of the kind of vitriol that we heard in the hearing rooms, so it's (the vandalism) just an extension of that," Skotdal said.
The station is still broadcasting on a backup transmitter and it is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspects.
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