AUGUSTA (AP) – Police are investigating vandalism at the office of the attorney for the Plum Creek Timber Co. and another site early this week, saying those incidents may be connected to others targeting the company that wants to build a major development in the Moosehead Lake region.

Vandals splashed the Augusta law office of Severin Beliveau of the Preti Flaherty Beliveau Pachios and Haley law firm with paint Monday night or Tuesday morning, police said.

That the same night, Halloween, vandals also painted anti-Plum Creek slogans on the home of one his neighbors in Hallowell, apparently mistaking it for Beliveau’s home, Beliveau said.

Beliveau said a process is in place for opponents to Plum Creek’s proposal to express themselves, and “they ought to be prepared to face it publicly and not do it in a cowardly way. It’s a classic case of cowardly behavior.”

The latest incidents broaden an investigation that was launched after vandals used paint, feces and animal guts to deface Plum Creek offices and the homes of two employees.

In Oakland, the home of Plum Creek’s regional general manager Jim Lehner was hit with rocks and small containers filled with paint. Four windows were broken, police said. In Greenville, project manager Luke Muzzy’s home was defaced with animal feces, also on Monday night, police said.

Plum Creek’s offices in Fairfield and a real estate office formerly owned by Muzzy in Greenville also were targeted. Earlier attacks targeting Plum Creek property were reported in July and August.

Lehrer said images of three or four vandals who targeted the company’s office in Fairfield were caught on a security videotape, but he said the vandals wore black ski masks.

Police said the investigation is in its early stages. A state police official said the FBI joined the investigation, but the FBI would not confirm reports of its involvement.

The coordinated strikes have prompted expressions of outrage from Gov. John Baldacci and several legislative leaders.

Critics of Plum Creek’s controversial development proposal in the Moosehead Lake region have joined in the denunciations of the vandals, labeling them as “terrorists.”

The Seattle-based company proposes rezoning about 10,000 acres of timberlands around Moosehead Lake to make way for two resorts, 975 house lots, campgrounds and other uses.