It just doesn’t matter whether you oppose Plum Creek’s plans to develop the area around Moosehead Lake. What someone did to the company and some of its personnel is an attempt at political intimidation and reminiscent of the tactics used by such terror organizations as the Ku Klux Klan.

Late Monday night, vandals attacked Plum Creek’s office and the homes of its employees in several towns. The vandalism appears to be coordinated and planned, which makes it more frightening for the victims.

Plum Creek regional manager Jim Lehner was one of the people targeted. The vandals broke windows and damaged the outside of his house.

Love him for trying to bring growth and economic development to a part of the state in need of both; hate him because you think he and his company intend to despoil a Maine treasure, but don’t throw rocks through his window in an attempt to intimidate him. Lehner is a decent man and deserves to feel safe at his home. So do other Plum Creek employees.

Terror has long been a tool of groups such as the Klan and other white supremacist organizations. Operating under a banner of protecting “the weak, the innocent and the defenseless,” the Klan has defended its cause as noble. In more recent times, terror has been adopted as a tactic among some extreme environmental groups. No noble cause in democracy is served with fear.

Intimidation has no place in deciding the future of Plum Creek’s Moosehead plans. There are good arguments to be made and an open accessible process available. Violence and criminal conspiracy will not be tolerated.