Alabama radio station puzzled at theft of 200-foot tower: reports

Officials at an Alabama radio station are puzzled at how a 200-foot tower was stolen from the property. 

WJLX station manager Brett Elmore told WBRC-TV that he isn’t sure how the bandits made away with the structure. 

“I have tried all weekend to figure it out, and I just can’t,” Elmore said. “I have been in the radio business, around it all my life, and then in it professionally for 26 years, and I can say I have never heard of anything like this. I can say I’ve seen it all now.”

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Elmore learned of the theft when a landscaping crew went to the tower site in Jasper to perform some work. 

“They stole every piece of equipment out of the building, cut the guy-wires to the tower and SOMEHOW managed to down a 200 [foot] tower and take it from the property,” a post on the radio station’s Facebook page states. 

The post noted that the thieves committed a federal crime by tampering with a federally licensed facility. 

Elmore said the radio station will work to rebuild the tower, but that he wants the thieves to know that he will work with investigators to find them. 

“This really hurts a small operation like this, but like I said, I believe we will find out who did this,” he said. “It is a federal crime, and it absolutely will not be worth it to them.”

Elmore said WJLX is working with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to obtain temporary authority to continue broadcasting its AM channel through other means.