Vandals have struck one of the most iconic lighthouses in the Maritimes, angering residents in the Cape Breton community. The solar panels that power the Louisbourg Lighthouse are now marked with holes, the foghorn has been damaged, and benches along the picturesque Louisbourg Lighthouse Trail have been hacked with a sharp object. One bench was even thrown over the bank and into the ocean. The damage is estimated well into the thousands of dollars. “It’s disgusting. It’s disgraceful. And what somebody would get out of doing something like this, I don’t understand,” says Louisbourg resident Wallace Barter. “It’s costing people money, taxpayers’ money, and there’s no need of it.” “I want them caught and there are people who know who’s doing it,” says Jean Bagnell of the Louisbourg Lighthouse Society. Bagnell says vandalism has been an issue for years. She is frustrated that damage keeps happening on land that is supposed to be protected, as part of a Parks Canada National Historic site. “We have everything, but it’s got to be protected. We can’t just let a couple of people run around rampant, tearing things apart,” she says. Parks Canada says, while the damage happened on Parks Canada land, the lighthouse is owned by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the damaged equipment is owned by the Canadian Coast Guard. The department says it is working with those other federal agencies and with police on finding a solution. “I don’t know the whole solution, but if we had more police presence, that would certainly help,” says Carter Stevens, chair of the Coastal Connections Trail Association. Cape Breton Regional Police are investigating the incident and residents are asking anyone with information to come forward. With files from CTV Atlantic's Ryan MacDonald
