A vandal caused minor damage on a bulldozer set to be used for Purple Line construction over the weekend, police said.
The windshield wipers and antenna on a Caterpillar bulldozer and mini-excavator near the Georgetown Branch Trail were broken, police spokesman Rick Goodale said. The equipment was behind a fence and ready to be used for impending work on the Purple Line site.
“It looks like whoever did it cut a hole in fence to get through to it,” Goodale said.
NBC's Adam Tuss posted pictures of the vandalism on Twitter Monday morning.
BREAK – Purple Line contractor vehicle vandalized, trail broken into over the weekend. Windshield wipers broken off. Police being called. pic.twitter.com/3Utjj6JDon
— Adam Tuss (@AdamTuss) September 25, 2017
Montgomery County police were called at 8 a.m. Monday.
Chris Doherty, a Purple Line Transit Partners spokesman, condemned the vandalism in an email.
“The trail is an active construction zone and anyone trespassing and committing acts of vandalism puts themselves and potentially others at risk,” he wrote.
Ajay Bhatt, president of the Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail, which is fighting against the construction of the transit line, also spoke out against the vandalism after a weekly press briefing by County Council President Roger Berliner.
"It wasn't me," Bhatt joked and then added: "We have made it very clear that we are in federal court. That is the only way we are going about this. We denounce any form of vandalism."
