Radio station WJLX can no longer broadcast its AM programming since the incident.
“What do you mean the tower is gone? Are you sure you’re in the right place? I actually used more colorful words than that,” Brett Elmore recounted to NBC News. “He said there’s wires all over the ground and the tower is gone.”
Not only was the radio tower stolen, but a nearby building was also vandalized. When Elmore heard the door was left ajar, “that’s when reality was starting to set in that something bad had happened.”
The thieves stole every piece of equipment from the building, including a transmitter.
WJLX notified the Federal Communications Commission that its AM station was silent. The station was hoping to continue broadcasting its program through FM radio in the meantime.