WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem police are investigating after they said someone damaged two local radio towers, belonging to WSJS.
The department received two reports of vandalism at Truth Radio Station.
A person with the radio station said a couple of their channels are temporarily down.
The flagship station, AM 600 and 101.5FM are the two frequencies impacted.
The owner of Truth Network, Stu Epperson said, "that moment, right there was probably one of the toughest days of my whole broadcast career. Just sitting there on a tower that had been destroyed. And just like what do I do? All I could do was just call out to God."
Truth Network shared photos of the vandalism, showing the towers, located in western Winston-Salem, completely toppled.
Winston-Salem Police are investigating the incident.
The FBI is also involved since broadcasters are governed by the FCC.
Epperson says other frequencies in Guilford and Davidson county are still on the air.
The North Carolina Association of Broadcasters issued a message to NCAB member stations about the vandalism, writing in part, "NCAB has recently heard reports from several Association members of perpetrators intentionally damaging communications towers and stealing copper from broadcast facilities/tower sites.
As has been reported to us, at least three radio sites in the Triad area have been vandalized; in one instance, a tower’s guy wires were cut, leading to a tower collapsing.
These recent incidents coincide with a dramatic increase in metal thefts, with copper, bronze, brass, and aluminum all being targeted, according to law enforcement."
Right now, there is no official timeline as to when the damage will be fully repaired.
"We're hoping soon, we're hoping later this week, we're hoping next week to have some sort of kind of Band-Aid solution," said Epperson.
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