A vandal armed with a chainsaw allegedly cut down a power pole last week, leaving nearly 1,200 homes and businesses across southern Tasmania without electricity for hours.
The pole was torn down around 10am on Thursday at the old mill site near the Kermandie Football Ground in Geeveston.
Power to Dover, Franklin, Geeveston and nearby areas was knocked out for about four hours, disrupting essential services across the region.
TasNetworks crews first thought the outage was caused by fallen wires, but investigations later revealed the pole had been deliberately cut.
Tasmania Police have since launched an investigation.
“Police would like to speak to anyone with information in relation to the pole being cut down or suspicious activity in the area around the time including a person in possession of a chainsaw,” police said.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact Geeveston Police on 131 444 and quoting OR785900.”
TasNetworks said vandalising electricity assets is “extremely dangerous”.
“Vandalising poles, tampering with power-lines or trying to steal copper has killed people across the world.”
“Our assets power homes, hospitals, schools and businesses, as well as lighting our streets at night. Outages and repair costs caused by vandalism affect all Tasmanians.”
