After Alabama Radio Station’s 200-Foot Transmission Tower Is Stolen, Station Is Back On The Air With Help From Friends

WJLX Radio in Alabama is currently missing a massive 200-foot radio tower that was somehow stolen by thieves in the middle of the night. The radio station used the tower for its AM radio channel, and general manager Brett Elmore told local news broadcast WRBC, “I have tried all weekend to figure it out, and I just can’t.”

This unfathomable event was discovered when the landscaping crew arrived at the site early in the morning, only to find there wasn’t any tower to maintain.

“I have been in the radio business, around it all my life and then in it professionally for 26 years, and I can say I have never heard of anything like this,” Elmore said.

The 200-foot steel tower was simply removed leaving “wires everywhere,” according to the maintenance crew. The thieves cut all the wires holding the tower together, as well as stealing other important equipment that was on the property.

WJLX took to Facebook in a distressing post, informing the public of the recent event.

“Not only was my building vandalized, but my TWO HUNDRED FOOT TOWER WAS GONE! They stole every piece of equipment out of the building, cut the guy wires to the tower, and SOMEHOW managed to down a 200′ tower and take it from the property,” the post read.

However, the station was able to get back on air within two weeks with the help of an executive with iHeart Music in New York. iHeart is now sending the WJLX signal via HD radio from its Birmingham, Alabama, station.

Elmore wants the thieves to be aware that they are under investigation, and “it is a federal crime and it absolutely will not be worth it to them.”

If they are found, the thieves will face hefty fines and up to a 10-year sentence in prison.