Rural crime spree goes on; corn dumped near Austin

Mower County authorities are investigating a destructive crime spree at area farms that has caused $12,000 in damage so far.

In the latest incident, vandals dumped about 400 bushels of corn from three grain wagons at a farm north of Austin on Wednesday.

Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi describes the loss as "a lot of corn," which the farmer estimated was worth nearly $1,000. The farmer had seen headlights stop about two hours earlier.

Amazi reports that vandals have caused nearly $12,000 in damages this month to farm trucks and harvest machinery parked in Mower County fields. Many of them involved broken vehicle windows.

The sheriff says the incidents have involved only vandalism, no thefts, and have happened both during the day and at night. She's asking people to watch for suspicious activity in rural areas.

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(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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