DIXFIELD – Nearly four years of fundraising for the town’s bicentennial in 2003 was devoted to raising about $20,000 for a new, antique-look town clock.

Late Thursday night or early Friday morning, someone smashed the ornate clock’s face.

“It’s awful,” said Charlotte Collins, former head of the Bicentennial Clock Committee. “It’s a beautiful clock and would last 100 years. Someone smashed in the front of it.”

She said Monday that the town’s insurance company has been contacted, and the maker of the clock, Electric Time Co. of Medford, Mass., has been notified. She’s not sure how much damage was done to the replica clock, or whether the damage will affect its operation. Hands on one side of the clock have stopped moving.

“The clock was the 200th birthday present to the town of Dixfield,” Collins said.

Signs have been put up at the corner of Weld and Main streets asking people to contact the Dixfield Police Department or the town office with information regarding the vandalism.

Purchasing the 12-foot-tall, green clock was a major step. The clock and bicentennial committees held bake sales, raffles and other fundraising events, and sought donations. Those who gave got their names etched into the clock’s post.

Collins said when the Towle’s Corner Store opens at the end of the month, a security camera mounted on the building will include the clock’s location.

Efforts to contact the Dixfield Police Department for comment were unsuccessful.

Anyone with any information may call the police department at 562-4517 or the town office at 562-8151.

A reward will be paid for information leading to the identification of the vandal.