Lake Hartwell Radio-921 WLHR is off the air due to the collapse of its 284 foot transmitting tower outside of Lavonia at approximately 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

While it was raining at the time and the area was under a winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service, there was no ice accumulation on the tower according to the station's co-owner, Art Sutton.

"We believe one of the guyed wire sections was deliberately cut which resulted in the tower falling completely over away from the guyed wires cut,” Sutton asserted. “There was no ice on the tower. The winds were not very strong. This was a deliberate case of sabotage based on the experience I've gained about radio station towers over the 33 years I've been in the business. If a tower collapses due to wind or the weight of excessive ice, it will collapse upon itself near the base of the tower. It will not fall over in one piece. We have no idea why anyone would do this to our tower, but we will use all the resources of the company to find out why this happened and who caused it," he concluded

The Franklin County Sheriffs Department was immediately called to the scene and is conducting an investigation.

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