Holiday vandals strike Sumner bridge
Published 5:51 pm Sunday, December 1, 2013
Sumner celebrated the 16th annual bridge lighting, sponsored by The Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse, Friday evening. The lights went out only one day later, caused by an act of vandalism.
The electrical box was damaged and currently there are no investigative leads as to who is responsible, said Sumner Deputy Chief Jeff Engel.
“In the past we’ve had kids come by and snatch bulbs,” Engel said. “But this is the first time, to my knowledge, that the electrical box has been messed with. It’s too bad someone felt the need to do this.”
The repairs are expected to take a couple days but the crew is committed to lighting the bridge back up, said Steve Fowler of The Old Cannery.
“We discourage this behavior but unfortunately it’s become a regular part of the season for us. It’s too bad because a lot of work goes in to the bridge lighting … It takes five days to put up over 10,000 lights,” Fowler said. “It won’t change anything. The lights will be fixed and hopefully it won’t happen again. In the meantime, we hope everyone has a great holiday season. Come on down and sit with Santa.”
The Sumner Downtown Association released comment via Facebook, urging the community not to let the incident dim the city’s Christmas spirit.
“… They are working to repair the damage which may take a while. Shame on those who chose the spirit of Grinchmas and disrespected the great generosity of The Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse and the Sumner community! You won’t steal our Christmas spirit,” the comment read.
Any suspect information should be directed to the Sumner Police Department.
