Vandalism still a mystery

Vandalism that left $500,000 in construction equipment inoperable last month was announced on a Web site that regularly posts word of environmental-related attacks.
Fifteen tractors and earth-movers were damaged by an unknown powdery substance at the Falcon Ridge 16-home subdivision site on Green Hills Road the weekend of Aug. 14.
The incident was listed as “unclaimed” in the “diary” section of the North American Earth Liberation Front press office Web site, the North American branch of the organization that’s considered a domestic terror threat by the FBI.
Whether the Scotts Valley vandalism is connected with similar events at University of California, Santa Cruz, in June is still unknown.
“As of yet, we do not have information that links the two,” said Scotts Valley police Lt. John Hohmann.
ELF is an international movement that opposes the exploitation and destruction of the environment, according to its Web site. While there have been no fatalities in ELF attacks, the group was classified by the FBI as the top domestic terror threat in the United States in 2001 and became more widely known after being featured on “60 Minutes” in 2005.
Property owner Chris Perri of Apple Homes Development said the Falcon Ridge housing site is as green as it gets, and any relation to the UC Santa Cruz incident or eco-terrorism is completely off-base.
UC Santa Cruz spokesman Jim Burns said that equipment at both a McHenry Library construction site and the campus’ East Remote parking area was similarly vandalized.
The acts of vandalism at the university were not listed on the North American ELF Web site.
Last weekend, some teens wearing dark clothing were chased off the site by a security guard who has been posted at the development since the vandalism, Hohmann said.
Scotts Valley police detectives and university police are working the case, and the FBI has offered its assistance. No suspects have been identified, police said.
Associated Construction, the company whose equipment was damaged in the crime, has created an anonymous tip hotline and is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the identification and conviction of the vandals.
Associated Construction’s anonymous tip hotline is 408-775-6972.