Footage and video from nearby surveillance cameras show two men dragging the tree to the buoy and setting it on fire. According to the police report, the men sometimes ducked behind the buoy as vehicles passed by. The two even took photos with their phones next to the buoy as the tree burned down, according to the report. It all happened just after 3 a.m., and then the men ran away.
The news quickly spread in the tight-knit island community as images of the crime were shared on social media.
Cameron Briody, a bartender at Ireland’s Kevin’s Bar, told his boss that he recognized the suspects from the night before, when he served them three rounds of drinks, according to the police report. Briody’s manager, Daylin Starks, located the suspects on the bar’s surveillance video and showed the police, according to the report.
The suspects wore the same clothing as seen in the video from the buoy.
Starks pulled out receipts for one of the men, and police were able to use that information to identify a 22-year-old Florida man and a 21-year-old Texas man if the two men wanted to damage the monument.
Repairs to the buoy, which was installed in 1983, cost more than $5,000, according to the police report. Police were able to contact both men, who acknowledged what they had done and said they had made a big mistake, the report said. The two suspects are charged with criminal mischief with damages in excess of $1,000.
Sharif Paget, Amy Simonson and Tina Burnside of DailyExpertNews contributed to this report.