AUBURN – For the second time this month, police are searching for suspects responsible for battering at least two dozen mailboxes in the rural parts of the city.

By early Friday morning, police were learning that vandals had struck several homes sometime during the night. The latest vandalism spree targeted mailboxes in front of homes along or near Beech Hill, Danville and Danville Corner roads, police said.

Mailboxes are considered federal property, and federal law (Title 18, United States Code, Section 1705), makes it a crime to vandalize them (and to injure, deface or destroy any mail deposited in them), according to the United States Postal Inspection Service Web site. Violators can be fined up to $250,000 or imprisoned for up to three years for each act of vandalism

Investigators believe the culprits have been driving down dark roads, leaning from car windows with a baseball bat or similar object, and simply whacking the mailboxes before speeding off.

Police spent part of the day Friday speaking with homeowners whose roadside mailboxes had been destroyed. Investigators believe there may be several more victims who have not yet discovered damaged mailboxes or who have not reported it.

Police said some of the receptacles targeted were simple boxes that cost approximately $10. Others were more elaborate, with special designs and granite posts. They ranged in cost up to $300.

The suspect or suspects in the vandalism spree could be ordered to pay restitution once they are caught, which could rise into the thousands of dollars, police said.

Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to call police at 784-7332.

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