Pacifica station KPFT(FM) in Houston is back on the air after a 36-hour outage due to vandalism.
In a message on the station website, General Manager Duane Bradley thanks listeners for the many calls of support and donations.
He says site manager and tower owner Crown Castle estimated damages at around $10,000.
Bradley told the Houston Press that thieves broke into the station’s tower facility Sunday night and cut through locks and disconnected a “drop line,” a high-voltage wire 30 feet off the ground, cutting power to the tower.
He termed the thieves “relatively well-organized but stupid people” who were most likely looking for copper.
The transmitter building was damaged and had to be repaired before the electrical service could be restored. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.
KPFT was still operating on its translator in Galveston on FM 89.5 and on its website.
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