Vandals targeted a timber company that has proposed a controversial development in Maine’s North Woods, using paint, feces and even animal guts to deface the company’s offices and the homes of two employees, police said Tuesday.
Jim Lehner, Plum Creek Timber Co.’s regional general manager, was awakened at midnight to find that his Oakland home was under attack. Rocks and small containers filled with paint were thrown at the house, breaking four windows, said Police Chief Michael Tracy.
In Greenville, meanwhile, project manager Luke Muzzy’s home was defaced with animal feces, police said.
Muzzy’s two children were home at the time.
“It’s one thing to have a company targeted, but it’s quite different when families are targeted. That takes it to a different level,” Lehner said after spending the morning cleaning up broken glass. “My wife was terrified.”
Plum Creek’s offices in Fairfield and a real estate office formerly owned by Muzzy in Greenville also were targeted with paint, and animal parts were left on the door knobs at each location, police said.
In Oakland, Tracy said the damage went far beyond typical Halloween mischief. He said the damage to Lehner’s home was “thousands of dollars.”
Gov. John Baldacci joined leaders of environmental and business groups in issuing a statement decrying the vandalism and emphasizing that differences on issues should be debated in a civil manner.
“We believe that there is no room, whatsoever, for people to destroy property, damage homes or cause harm as a means to express their views. It is illegal, and it is abhorrent to the Maine way,” the statement said.
It was not the first time vandals targeted Seattle-based Plum Creek after it proposed rezoning about 10,000 acres of timberlands around Moosehead Lake to make way for two resorts, 975 house lots, campgrounds and other uses.
Someone defaced Plum Creek’s Fairfield office in July and someone broke into the Greenville office a month later, police said. Lehner said someone targeted his company vehicle as well, scraping the words “Leave Maine” in the paint.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.