by Michele Catahay

Guam - Just last month, culprits were vandalizing schools. This time around they've managed to hit up the Department of Education's Maintenance Warehouse where thousands of dollars worth of wire has been stolen.

DOE's Maintenance Division is oftentimes left picking up the pieces when vandals strike the island's public schools. Today, however, staff walked into their Piti warehouse, finding it had been ransacked. DOE maintenance manager Billy Cruz got the call at 6 o'clock Monday morning, telling KUAM News, "We lost a couple of wires. 500-mcm wires, 300-mcm wires, 40 wires. The estimated costs just on the wires is almost $30,000 worth of wires. We lost bushcutters and apparently the individuals used full force equipment."

The culprits even used this forklift, tied ropes to it and broke open the doors to take equipment. All six working bushcutters were stolen with vandals leaving the facility destroyed and trashed. Cruz says his personal lap top was also stolen, adding, "This is-never. This is the first time I've experienced this much damages [sic] here in this facility."

Cruz continued, "We used the wires for underground electrical stuff that requires big wires for power source at the schools they're hot commodities. I'm sure someone is going to make money out there, but I'm hoping that these people get caught."

With DOE already faced with a lack of resources for the island's public schools and its students, Cruz says these individuals need to be caught and punished. "I think it's going to make our job harder, with all this stuff being destroyed. Some equipment were stolen, drills and snakes and saws that were taken from the supply offices. Things they can actually grab and move fast. They really moved fast on the wires," he said.

If you have any information or leads to this case, you can call the Guam Police Department or Guam Crimestoppers at 477-HELP (4357).