Stealing is bad—we all know that. However, sometimes a theft is so masterly that it transcends our moral system and becomes impressive. I would argue that this is the case with a theft that took place in Jasper, Alabama, where unknown thieves recently ransacked a local radio station, stealing everything in sight, including a 200-foot, stainless steel radio tower that had to be cut down and carted off via unknown means.
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Local news outlet WBRC first reported on the theft, which impacted WJLX’s AM station. The station manager, Brett Elmore, first learned of the theft last Friday, when a group of landscapers who were sent to work on the property reported back that it had been robbed and that its radio tower was missing.
Elmore said he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “When he arrived, he called me Friday and said, ‘The tower is gone,’” Elmore told the local news outlet. “I said, ‘What do you mean the tower is gone? Are you sure you are at the right place?’ He said, ‘The tower is gone. There is wires everywhere, and it is gone.’”
The thieves appear to have stolen the tower by cutting the cables that held it in place, Elmore said in a Facebook post. In the same post, the station manager noted that the radio station had also “been vandalized” and that the robbers in question “stole every piece of equipment out of the building.”
You have to wonder what kind of depraved Danny Ocean is behind this kind of operation. It doesn’t exactly scream “bored teenager.” A news station rival trying to take out their competition? The mind boggles at the possibilities.
Whoever they are, they could be in quite a lot of trouble, if they’re caught. The New York Post notes that it is a federal crime to tamper with radio stations in this way, and the perpetrators could face up to 10 years in prison.
Gizmodo reached out to the Jasper Police Department to confirm the details of the theft provided by Elmore. We will update this story if it responds.
