No one knows how it was done, but thieves stole a 200-foot radio tower from AM station WJLX in Jasper, Alabama, forcing the station off the air.
WJLX’s landscaping crew were the first to notice the tower was missing, and then Brett Elmore, the station’s general manager, noticed the transmitter and all the other equipment were missing, too.
“I’ve tried all weekend to figure it out, and I just can’t,” he said, though he says he suspects the tower was brought down and then cut into small pieces and carried away.
Police are baffled as well and have turned to the general public for help. Meanwhile, WJLX expects to be off the air for some time. Replacement equipment could cost as much as $100,000. “We don’t have that kind of money,” Elmore said.
