Mailbox smashers strike Oak Ridge

Vandals made mail delivery to some Oak Ridge residents difficult today.

County Roads 372, 351 and 374 were littered with beaten and knocked-over mailboxes after vandals came through late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. About 16 people reported having their mailboxes destroyed, according to the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department.

Thomas and Saundra Schoen of Oak Ridge found their mailbox destroyed Sunday morning. Saundra said the vandals drilled holes in the mailboxes or used some kind of pick.

"We got to buy a brand-new one. We'll be out about $50," she said. "Now we're going to have to go up to the post office every day until we get the box up."

She said a similar incident happened about three years ago, when a neighbor's mailbox was found three-tenths of a mile away and "smashed flat."

"I just don't understand. What are kids that age doing out that late at night?," she said. "I have two kids 18 months apart. If I ever found out they did something like that, they wouldn't sit for a week."

No suspect or suspects have been identified and both the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. The Oak Ridge school district resource officers are investigating the vandalism.

Mailbox vandalism is a federal crime punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 or imprisonment for up to three years for each act of vandalism, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The Sheriff's Department asks anyone with information to call 243-3551.