Another radio tower destroyed by sabotage, now NE Georgia

HARTWELL - "WLHR in Hartwell lost its tower early Saturday when the 284-foot structure fell to the ground."... It is believed to be the work of vandals. "While it was raining at the time and the area was under a winter storm warning, there

• was no ice accumulation on the tower, according to the station's co-owner, Art Sutton.

"We believe one of the guy-wire sections was deliberately cut which resulted in the tower falling completely over away from the guy-wires cut,” Sutton said. “There was no ice on the tower. The winds were not very strong. This was a deliberate case of sabotage based on the experience I've gained about radio station towers over the 33 years I've been in the business. If a tower collapses due to wind or the weight of excessive ice, it will collapse upon itself near the base of the tower. It will not fall over in one piece.....

• Sutton said that the deliberate destruction of a radio station transmitter tower is considered a federal offense because stations are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission.

WLHR is owned by Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting Companies, which operates 13 radio stations in Northeast Georgia, Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina." AccessNorthGa.com, via RadioDailyNews

• 9/6/09, Pennsylvania and Washington radio towers sabotaged (Morning Call link in blog post goes to default page).

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