Windmills vandalized in Berlin, N.H.

BERLIN, N.H. – Three windmills on a Mount Jericho wind farm have been vandalized, likely destroying one and badly damaging the others.

The vandalism is a setback for Christian Loranger, who has worked for a year on the Loranger Power Generation wind farm. He hopes to generate power to be distributed by Public Service Co. of New Hampshire.

“I worked there all year, worked through the winter,” he said. “It’s a shame and it’s going to be a lot of work.”

He said vandals cut cables used to raise and lower the 160-foot towers. One toppled, breaking the tower and blades. Loranger doesn’t think it can be fixed. He says fixing the cables on the other two “is going to be an absolute nightmare.”

Loranger said he’s determined to go forward with the wind farm, which he hopes eventually to expand to 30 windmills.

Mayor Robert Danderson, who called the damage senseless and intentional, urged anyone with information about it to come forward. He also said vandalism such as this hurt efforts to attract investors and entrepreneurs to the city.