A dump truck sat filled with the remnants of small offices from inside the MUD Masters plant on South Magnolia Street Tuesday as employees scrambled to clean up heavy damage done by vandals.
Plant manager John Rayborn said he and McComb police suspect teenagers were behind the vandalism last week that caused some $129,000 in damage, but they have no solid leads.
Someone broke into the plant after business hours on Thursday and before the shop reopened at 8:45 a.m. Friday and used the forklifts inside to damage an $85,000 machine and product used to make oil drilling lubricant.
“It was our most expensive product that they damaged,” Rayborn said, adding that bags of product used to make lubricant for oil drilling cost up to $185 each.
Rayborn cited damage to the office and warehouse, including a wall that was knocked down, plus damage to a mixing machine, auger, bagging machine, hopper and pellets of product.
In the process of damaging the equipment, vandals also ripped out wiring from the building. Rayborn won’t know the extent of the damage until he is able to get the wiring fixed and the machines turned back on. However, he estimates the damage could put the plant out of work for more than two weeks.
Rayborn and his seven employees have been tirelessly cleaning and repairing the damage since Friday. The only thing the vandals stole were the batteries from the forklifts, he said.
The McComb Sports Park is directly across the street from the plant and has been plagued by similar break-ins — including batteries taken from equipment — but the police are unsure if the same thieves struck MUD Masters.
