Gun-toting vandal damages several new road signs in Iron County; Property owner offers reward for info

CEDAR CITY — An Iron County property owner is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person(s) responsible for using firearms to shoot up several new road signs in a remote area north of Cedar City.

Road sign damaged by recent gunfire, Lund Highway, Iron County, Utah, Dec. 20, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The damage was first reported on Friday by a man who drove by the signs and noticed that several of them had been filled with holes.

Cedar City News visited the site on Monday and observed at least seven signs that had been shot, all within a short distance of the intersection where Lund Highway connects with Horse Hollow Road (click here to see that location on Google maps).

The surrounding desert area includes some private property, in addition to state school trust lands and federal lands governed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Lori Rowley, whose family owns property in the area and has sheep grazing in the winter range nearby, posted a few photos of the damaged signs on Facebook on Friday. She said her uncle Paul Nelson is who first noticed the damaged signs on Dec. 17; Nelson said the signs had all been recently installed and were in pristine condition as of the previous Saturday, Dec. 11.

Several of the signs were pockmarked with numerous holes, most of which appear to have been made by a semiautomatic weapon, in addition to some patterns that were likely made with a shotgun.

“My uncle said he couldn’t see any brass laying on the ground,” Rowley said, noting that the lack of shell casings could indicate the rounds were fired from inside a vehicle.

“It’s so crazy,” she added. “It makes me sick and makes me mad.”

Road sign damaged by recent gunfire, Lund Highway, Iron County, Utah, Dec. 20, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

One possible witness, who didn’t wish to reveal his name, told Cedar City News he was driving on that road behind a dark sedan about 4 p.m. last Wednesday when he saw a person pointing what looked like an AR-15 rifle out the window, presumably looking for rabbits.

“It could have been the same kid,” commented the man, who added that he has not yet spoken to Iron County Sheriff’s deputies about what he saw.

Iron County Commissioner Marilyn Wood said the cost of replacing the signs, which could run as high as $200 per sign, counting labor, would have to come out of the county road budget.

The damaged signs included two yellow directional signs, a speed limit sign, two yield signs and a yellow-and-black striped cattle guard marker.

Reached by telephone on Monday, Nelson confirmed that he’s willing to pay as much as $500 in reward money to help find the culprit.

Anyone with information about who may have been responsible for the vandalism is asked to contact Iron County Sheriff’s Office 435-867-7500. The Sheriff’s Office said Monday that they do not yet have any leads in the case.

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