Vandalism spree hits Lincoln

The Lincoln area has experienced a spate of vandalism in the last two weeks as unknown culprits have spray painted traffic signs and damaged both trash cans and traffic pylons.

Lewis and Clark County Deputy Sheriff Robert Rivera said vandals first hit the area around Tuesday, Aug 17.

"It was reported that somebody on Dalton Mountain Bridge ran over those pylons and destroyed a few of them, then tossed a couple...up in the river," Rivera said. "That same night they drove up the Lincoln Gulch area and ran over some trash cans, (then) hit a trash can on Morris Road."

The following week, either late Tuesday night, Aug. 24, or early Wednesday morning, Aug. 25, someone spray painted signs near the Lincoln Fire Stations. Rivera said they used red spray paint to cover the 'stop' on the stop sign at B Street and Stemple and used black spray paint to turn the speed limit sign on Stemple from 25 to 35. The fire truck sign by the fire stations also got a spot of black paint.

Another incident on Friday morning, Aug. 27 saw the stop sign on Beaver Creek and Highway 200 similarly painted red, and Lincoln Telephone reported equipment they had on Beaver Creek had been messed with.

While there isn't yet a discernable connection between some of the incidents, Rivera suspects the same person or persons may be responsible for them all.

"This is new right now for Lincoln. We don't usually have random vandalism every week," he said.

Rivera is hoping people will keep their eyes and ears open. "We're a small-town community. The more eyes we have on things the better. If you hear something that sounds out of the ordinary, it would be best to maybe report that, especially with everything going on right now."

The vandalized signs have since been replaced, but Rivera said such instances, even though they may seem like minor crimes, are a burden on society and on taxpayer dollars. He pointed out it takes deputies time to write up the reports and takes both time and money for the county or the state to replace the damaged items.

"I think county roads and state roads time could be better spent doing something else," he said.

Call the Sheriff's office non-emergency number (406) 447-8235 or Cpl. Rivera at (406)241-6967 if you have any information.,