The 300-foot tower was destroyed after a guy wire was purposely cut. Photo: Furnas County Sheriff’s Office
The Furnas County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) has opened an investigation after a communications tower south of Oxford, Nebraska was intentionally destroyed.
Photo: Furnas County Sherrif’s Office
The sheriff’s office said the tower, owned by Strayer Communications, was toppled and destroyed on Saturday. Their initial findings indicated intentional damage to a guy wire that was cut and resulted in complete structural failure of the tower, causing it to fall to the east.
The structure was a 300-foot guyed tower erected in 1993, according to the FCC’s database.
The agency requested a forensic evidence team from the Nebraska State Patrol “to collect as much evidence as possible in the investigation.”
Deputies have also filed for and received preservation of cellular data from the tower to identify a suspect or suspects in the area.
Several items of evidence were seized and will be examined at the Nebraska State Patrol crime lab.
The suspect or suspects caused an estimated $575,000 in damage to the tower, which does not include the costs for replacement of the Oxford Fire and EMS, Southern Valley Schools, Verizon Wireless, and the Furnas County Sheriff’s Office equipment on the structure.
There is a possibility the FBI might investigate the tower’s destruction as an act of domestic terrorism
Verizon erected a temporary tower to provide limited cell phone coverage for the area.
Furnas County relocated the Fire and EMS channels for Oxford to a temporary location. Southern Valley and the FCSO are still trying to find a suitable place for their equipment.
The sheriff’s office requested anyone with information on the incident to contact them at 308-268-2245.