A Kentucky newspaper’s staff is remaining “vigilant” after the office’s windows were smashed over the weekend in an apparent act of vandalism.
According to nearby CCTV footage, The Lexington Herald-Leader building was vandalized Sunday morning between 9:45 a.m. and 11 a.m., the newspaper reported on its website. Some windows had evidence of small-caliber bullet damage.
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No one was hurt in the incident, but Lexington police are treating it as a criminal offence.
An editor with the newspaper tweeted photos of the damage, which occurred on the building’s exterior windows and left sidewalks littered with broken glass.
Rufus M. Friday, the newspaper’s publisher, said the “senseless” act wouldn’t deter reporters from their work, though he added it was especially concerning amid a growing climate of anger against journalists.
Last week, a Republican governor from Kentucky compared journalists to insects in a Facebook Live segment.
“They make a lot of noise. They’re like cicadas,” Gov. Matt Bevin said.
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A reporter from The Guardian also claimed he was “body-slammed” by Montana politician Greg Gianforte earlier this month. Gianforte won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives a day later.
Police have not yet confirmed a motive behind the vandalism.
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